Gonzalez: The forgotten history of The Haight’s long-lost ballpark
From Amanda Gonzalez at Hoodline on March 31, 2016, with mention of SABR member Angus Macfarlane:
On April 3rd, Major League Baseball’s 2016 season will officially kick off, with throngs of excited fans filling stadiums across the country. But on that very same date 129 years ago, in 1887, San Francisco’s baseball fans were feeling the same excitement for a different opening day: the debut of the brand-new Haight Street Grounds. Also sometimes referred to as the California League Grounds, or just the League Grounds, the then-new ballpark was bordered by Frederick, Waller, Cole and Stanyan Streets.
The history of San Francisco baseball can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint and validate, due to poor record-keeping and the loss of many documents and photos during the 1906 earthquake and fire. But historians do know that baseball was alive and well in San Francisco in the late 1800s—and the Upper Haight played a big role in that history.
Angus Macfarlane is one such baseball “treasure hunter,” a term he prefers to “historian.” A lifelong San Francisco resident, Macfarlane grew up at Haight and Ashbury, played baseball in his youth, and worked as a juvenile probation officer for 30 years. Now 68 and retired, he spends his days learning as much as he can about baseball’s past, especially where it intertwines with San Francisco’s history.
Read the full article here: http://hoodline.com/2016/03/the-forgotten-history-of-the-haight-s-long-lost-ballpark
Originally published: March 31, 2016. Last Updated: March 31, 2016.