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35°12′13″N 80°51′32″W / 35.20361°N 80.85889°W / 35.20361; -80.85889

Clark Griffith Park or better known as Griffith Park was a stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, located at 400 Magnolia Avenue (the south corner of Magnolia and Lyndhurst Avenue) in the Dilworth section of town. It replaced Hayman Field, which was located at South Graham Street and West Bland Street, and was originally called Wearn Field when it opened in 1908.

Clark Griffith Park opened in 1941 and held as many as 5,000 people in a covered grandstand which extended from first base to third base. It was primarily used for baseball, and served as the home field for the Charlotte Hornets, an affiliate of the Washington Senators/ Minnesota Twins from 1937 to 1972 in various leagues ranging from Class B (equivalent to Class A today) to Class AA, and the Charlotte Orioles, a Class AA Southern League farm team of the Baltimore Orioles from 1976 to 1987. After a renovation of the park in 1976 for the O's, the park was renamed Jim Crockett Memorial Park in 1977 (but was mostly called Crockett Park), both in honor of the promoter who brought the team, and to distance themselves from the former owners. The park was almost completely burned down on March 16, 1985. Investigators determined the fire was set by juveniles.

The Crockett family built a 3,000-seat makeshift stadium soon after the fire. However, it was completely exposed to the elements. The O's attendance fell off over the next 2 seasons, 1986, and 1987, because there was no protection for the fans. When the Charlotte O's last season was over George Shinn bought the team, and the stadium, and renamed it Knights Park. The team was renamed Knights out of a naming contest to distance the similarity between the major league affiliate. The new Charlotte "Knights" only played there for their first season in 1988, and in 1989, the team switched affiliations to the Chicago White Sox, and moved to a new and much bigger ballpark in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Knights Castle.

References

Gault, Earl. Some win, some lose if Knights move to S. C. The Herald, 1988-05-22.

External links

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 '''Clark Griffith Park''' or better known as '''Griffith Park''' was a [[stadium]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], located at 400 Magnolia Avenue (the south corner of Magnolia and Lyndhurst Avenue) in the Dilworth section of town. It replaced '''Hayman Field''', which was located at South Graham Street and West Bland Street, and was originally called '''Wearn Field''' when it opened in 1908.
-Clark Griffith Park opened in 1941 and held as many as 5,000 people in a covered grandstand which extended from first base to third base. It was primarily used for [[baseball]], and served as the home field for the [[Charlotte Hornets (baseball)|Charlotte Hornets]], an affiliate of the [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]]/ [[Minnesota Twins]] from 1937 to 1972 in various leagues ranging from Class B (equivalent to Class A today) to Class AA, and the [[Charlotte Knights|Charlotte Orioles]], a Class AA [[Southern League (baseball)|Southern League]] farm team of the [[Baltimore Orioles]] from 1976 to 1987.  After a renovation of the park in 1976 for the O's, the park was renamed '''Jim Crockett Memorial Park''' in 1977 (but was mostly called '''Crockett Park'''), both in honor of [[Jim Crockett Sr.|the promoter who brought the team]], and to distance themselves from the former owners. The park was almost completely burned down on March 16, 1985. Investigators determined the fire was set by juveniles.
+Clark Griffith Park opened in 1941 and held as many as 5,000 people in a covered grandstand which extended from first base to third base. It was primarily used for [[baseball]], and served as the home field for the [[Charlotte Hornets (baseball)|Charlotte Hornets]], an affiliate of the [[History of the Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]]/ [[Minnesota Twins]] from 1937 to 1972 in various leagues ranging from Class B (equivalent to Class A today) to Class AA, and the [[Charlotte Knights|Charlotte Orioles]], a Class AA [[Southern League (1964–2020)|Southern League]] farm team of the [[Baltimore Orioles]] from 1976 to 1987.  After a renovation of the park in 1976 for the O's, the park was renamed '''Jim Crockett Memorial Park''' in 1977 (but was mostly called '''Crockett Park'''), both in honor of [[Jim Crockett Sr.|the promoter who brought the team]], and to distance themselves from the former owners. The park was almost completely burned down on March 16, 1985. Investigators determined the fire was set by juveniles.
 The Crockett family built a 3,000-seat makeshift stadium soon after the fire.  However, it was completely exposed to the elements.  The O's attendance fell off over the next 2 seasons, 1986, and 1987, because there was no protection for the fans. When the Charlotte O's last season was over [[George Shinn]] bought the team, and the stadium, and renamed it Knights Park.  The team was renamed Knights out of a naming contest to distance the similarity between the major league affiliate. The new Charlotte "Knights" only played there for their first season in 1988, and in 1989, the team switched affiliations to the [[Chicago White Sox]], and moved to a new and much bigger ballpark in [[Fort Mill, South Carolina]], [[Knights Stadium|Knights Castle]].

v t e Charlotte 49ers baseball
Venues	Clark Griffith Park (1979–1983) Robert and Mariam Hayes Stadium (1984–present)
People	Head coaches Players
Seasons	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023