Robinson: Grandstands make great kindling

From Eric Robinson at The Hardball Times on October 11, 2017:

Fort Worth’s LaGrave Field is located on the banks of the Trinity River two blocks east of Main Street, halfway between the city’s downtown area and historic Stockyards in an area referred to as North Side. The home Rogers Hornsby bought after he became a star with the St Louis Cardinals is a five-minute walk away, still standing and tucked behind a busy gas station.

This incarnation of the stadium was built in 2002 for the then-new Fort Worth Cats independent minor league team that started play in 2001. The field was built in the same location as the 1926–1967 version of the stadium, with the team taking the name of the historical Texas League squad that first started play in the 1880s and was a dynasty in the 1920s.

Currently abandoned, LaGrave has not been used by the Cats since an abbreviated season in 2014. However, if you were to see the stadium in person, you would think it has been abandoned for far longer. The grass on the field is waist high, graffiti mars walls where promotional banners once flew, doors have been busted open, and the cart that once sold programs is now pushed down the entrance steps.

Read the full article here: https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/grandstands-make-great-kindling/



Originally published: October 11, 2017. Last Updated: October 11, 2017.