Griffith Stadium
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William Howard Taft began the tradition of presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the baseball season at Griffith Stadium. A big baseball fan (in more ways than one), legend has it that he also inadvertently inaugurated the tradition of the Seventh-inning stretch. Harry Truman, being ambidextrous, enjoyed showing off by throwing the baseball with either hand. According to some reports, he would alternate from year to year.
The stadium was laid out at an unusual angle within its block in the Washington street grid. Thus, it was over 400 feet down the left field line to the bleachers (though this distance was shortened in later years by the construction of an inner fence). The fence also took an unusual right-angled jut into right-center field where a large tree and several apartment buildings stood, due to the unwillingness of the owners of the tree and those nearby houses to sell to the Nationals owners during construction of the stadium. The right field fence angled away from the infield sharply which, in addition to a 30-foot "spite" fence about 8 feet inside the lower, outer wall, meant that relatively few home runs were hit at the stadium.
The distance fences were no problem for sluggers like Josh Gibson, Mickey Mantle and the Senators' own youngster Harmon Killebrew. Gibson is reported to have hit baseballs over the left field bleachers twice. Mantle hit one that was so impressive that someone tried to determine its flight with some precision, thus popularizing the term "Tape Measure Home Run".
Aside from some championship seasons in the early 1920s and 1930s, the Senators teams that played at Griffith Stadium were legendarily bad. The hapless Washington team became the butt of a well-known Vaudeville joke, "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League," a twist on the famous "Light Horse Harry" Lee eulogy of George Washington: "First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
Supposedly, Senators groundskeepers ensured that it was actually slightly downhill towards first base in order to give sluggish Senators players an extra step.
In the fall of 1961, the Redskins and Senators moved to the newly built D.C. Stadium (which was re-named R.F.K. Stadium in 1968). Griffith Stadium was demolished in 1965 and Howard University Hospital now stands on the site.
Trivia
During a Washington Redskins game, an announcment came over the public-address speakers, informing all generals and admirals to report to their duty stations. The date - December 7, 1941 - the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan.
Sources
- Green Cathedrals, by Phil Lowry.
- Lost Ballparks, by Lawrence Ritter.
- Williams, Paul K. Greater U Street. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002.
| Preceded by: American League Park 1901–1903 | Home of the Washington Senators (I) 1904–1960 | Followed by: Metropolitan Stadium 1961–1981 |
| Preceded by: First ballpark | Home of the Washington Senators (II) 1961 | Followed by: RFK Stadium 1962– 1971 |
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