User:Woodshed/Katy Park

• User:Woodshed/Katy_Park/working
• Wikipedia:WikiProject_Baseball/Style_guidelines

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List of topics

• What teams played there and when?
  • Their records, championships, etc.
• History of the edifice
  • Est. 1889
  • located "no more than 20 yards away" from the RR trax [1]
  • A.H. Kirskey rebuild post-tornado with Branch Rickey (source: Part 2 of WTH pro sports series, 2007 Werner)
  • Sold 1965 (source: 1965 DMN article)
• What Katy Park's famous for/famous moments
  • Gene Rye's feat (Aug. 6, 1930)
  • Yankees exhibition
  • Tris Speaker made his pro debut there (source: Cleburne "naught six" book) ... see also Doak Roberts
  • Birdie Tebbetts team (Waco Army Air Field Wolves) during WW2 (source: 1965 DMN article) ... with Sid Hudson and Hoot Evers (source: 2007 Werner)
  • Joe Louis retirement announcement
  • As part of the Texas League
    • first night game in Texas League
    • Del Pratt -- Triple Crown, many Texas League records
    • Ellis Hardy, manager -- best winning percentage in Texas League history 1911-1918
  • State Semi-Pro Baseball Tournament [2]

• • June 28, 1947: Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton, who lost a leg in a hunting accident in 1938, threw a shutout in the Waco Dons' 6-0 win over the Paris Red Peppers.

• Negro baseball
• Waco tornado
• Baylor baseball
  • Bibb Falk shenanigans (1961) [3]
• Non-baseball
  • Teddy Roosevelt's visit
    • We need to be careful on these dates. WTH: "President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) made at least three trips to Waco. Twice he came as president, making a re-election campaign stop at Katy Park in 1904 and speaking to the Young Men's Business League in 1905. (I believe this was also at Katy Park.) He also came in 1911, when he was pondering a run for president in 1912 under his own Bull Moose Party." (The same author of the preceding has a later article that refers to TR's "first visit" to Waco in 1905.)
    • Spoke from top of dugout due to crowd size [4]
    • Was Thursday April 6, 1905: "RECEPTION TO PRES. ROOSEVELT

Baylor will give a half-holiday in honor of Pres. Roosevelt next Thursday and all students will have seats reserved as near the platform from which the President will speak as is possible. It is planned to have all students of Waco to join in singing two verses of America just as Mr. Roosevelt mounts the platform. The fact that the President will remain in Waco only an hour forbids any more elaborate performance. The exercises will be held in the Katy Park and will begin about 9:30 o'clock. The Baylor Band will participate in the general reception, and every Baylor, student is expected to wear his college colors."

• • Boxing arena
  • August 9, 1939 - Jesse Owens clinic "at which he discusses training and also tries to outrun a quarterhorse" (February 9, 2003 John Young column); "Owens will give the boys lecture on how to train and sprint. His talk will be interesting."
• Current state
  • Split into two parcels, owned by ARC Abatement and AT&T

Notes/research

Trib archive search

this can be a good resource, if we can be exhaustive about checking all the fields

http://ipac.ci.waco.tx.us:8081/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile= like, I found this using "title keyword": http://ipac.ci.waco.tx.us:8081/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1303435H0P90D.43&profile=main&uri=link=3100011~!110074~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=search&menu=search&ri=5&source=~!comres&term=Brand+new+Katy+Park+taking+shape&index=NTITLBR

Handbook of Texas

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xot01 "In 1930 Katy Park in Waco became one of the first stadiums in organized baseball to install lights for night games."

Building

"New Ball Park: Manager Fabian Has Grand Stand Constructed on Modern Plans
Waco, Tex., Feb. 17. - Henry Fabian, manager of the Waco baseball team, in directing the archictecture of the grand stand, set apart a front division for private boxes and a special row for the press reporters.

The modeling of the entire park is being pitched upon the most modern plan, as approved by the National League, having in view the comfort of the spectators and the convenience of the players.

The park is south of Eight, between Webster and Jackson streets. It is familiarly known as the circus park. The trolley cars pass it on two sides and it is centrally located as to the passenger depots of the various railways."

Henry Fabian - "considered one of the best ground keepers in the business and refused an offer to keep the Cleveland American League club's grounds"

"Waco Baseball Club - Organized and Arrangements Made for League Entry

Waco, Tex., Dec. 29 - At an enthusiastic meeting this afternoon of the Waco Baseball Association all the details were closed for a Waco team, with Henry Fabian as manager. The proposal of the Texas League was submitted by J. W. Gardner, president of the Dallas baseball club, and the waco fans met the offer with an enthusiastic response.

Mr. Gardner, representing the State League, explained that Waco would be required to give a good, well-inclosed park, suitably located, and build the grand stand. He signified that a site near the Katy Depot met his approval.

The Waco association accepted the offer promptly and appointed Charles R. Turner, Homer D. Wade, W. E. Herring, Sam G. McLendon, W. H. Hoffman, W. H. Thompson and J. M. Strayhorn a committee to carry into effect the agreement on the part of Waco. Manager Fabian gave proof of having organized a strong league team for this city."

Filling Station

Apparently there was a Humble Filling Station in deepest center field (see fire insurance diagram) and was there until at least 1929 (mention of it in Yankee game coverage).

Built in 1924

Rennovations

March 1916 - "A handsome new grandstand has been erected out at Katy Park that will seat many more than the old ones, and the fans are confident that they will be able to see Waco bring home another pennant in its shade."
circa 1920-1923 - grandstand demolished: "permission was granted them by the city commission, Monday afternoon, to reconstruct the grand stand in Katy park just as it was before being demolished; in other words, to replace it as it was when Waco was a member of the Texas league."
March 1923 - "Katy park with its new and commodious grandstand, its new high fence which surrounds the park, and with the playing field in even beter shape than it was in the Texas League days"
June 28, 1928 - Grandstand partially destroyed by fire
circa 1925-1930 - "the Waco Athletic Association has bought Katy Park, where Texas League games are played here, and built a new grandstand"
June 1930 - Lights Added
April 1938 - "Katy Park, former home of the Texas League baseball, is being revamped with 2000 seats being added to increase the capacity for state tournament to 6000"
July 1953 - Tornado Repair

Measurements

"It happened in the band-box Katy Park. The foul lines were 291 feet in right field and 302 feet in left; however, it had a 25-foot screen around the entire field."

"It is only 296 feet to the right wall at Yank Stadium, and that is only about three feet further than it is to the right wall at Katy Park. It is only 301 feet to the left wall. It is 287 feet to the left wall at Katy Park."

"At Katy Park in Waco it is 285 feet to the left field fence at the foul line, and 291 to the right wall."

"The Waco right-field wall is 291 feet from the plate, and that's the near point in the field. . . . Waco's left-field fence, nearest point, is 287 feet from the plate."

"The shortest left wall is around 287 feet, and the shortest right wall is around 291"

Ownership

1905 - ?: ?
? - 1922: Captain Alfred Abeel
1922 - 1925: William C. "Budge" Abeel (inherited Katy Park upon his father's death)
1925-1931: Waco Athletic Association
1931-?: William C. "Budge" Abeel (returned to Abeel after the Cubs folded)
?
?-1944: O. B. Perot
1944-1959: Albert Henry Kirksey
1959-1965: Mrs. Kirksey [check on her name]

Sold to car wrecking company in 65

Sometime in 1976-1977, torn down and at least part of the parcel sold to a "telephone service"

Texas League

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/league1/page.jsp?ymd=20100302&content_id=8648734&vkey=league1_l109&fext=.jsp&sid=l109 Several Texas League HOF members with ties to Waco — notably Del Pratt and Ellis Hardy

Gene Rye's game: first night game to be broadcast in Texas League, pg. 209

pg. 45: "first team in the Texas League to install lights"

• MILB.com Rye story[5]

First night game in Texas League (1930)

• Waco Cubs 13, Fort Worth Cats 0

First Sunday games in Texas League (1905)

• result of court case involving Waco club [6]
  • Chief Wilson

Big State League

• Katy was first ballpark to host a night game (1933)

Teams

research.sabr.org/minors/files/Team_Table_CMS_Version.xls

Texas League

• Pre-Katy Park
  • Waco withdrew and league folded (June 10, 1890)
  • Waco Babies/Waco Texans (1889, through Aug. 4), disbanded due to attendance
  • Waco Babies/Waco Indians (1890, through June 7), disbanded
  • Waco Tigers (1902, through July 8), disbanded
  • Waco Steers (1903), moved from Paris Parasites (1903; originally Eisenfelder's Homeseekers beginning 1902) on June 26, season shortened to Aug. 31
• Katy Park Era
  • Waco Tigers (1905)
  • Waco Navigators (1906), D-class
  • Waco Navigators (1907-1910), C-class
  • Waco Navigators (1911-July 7, 1918), B-Class
  • Waco Navigators (1919), B-class
  • Waco Cubs (1925-1930), A-class

Texas Association

• Waco Indians (1923-1924), D-class

Saved from being demolished in 1923 to join Texas Assn Texas Association nugget [7]

Baylor University

• Men's Baseball Team (1931-1936; 1947-1950; 1952-1957 [Split time with Dutton Street Park]; 1958-1959)

Semi-Pro

• Waco Packers (1931)
• Waco Dons (1937-1942; 1946; 1948;1959-1960) - semipro champs in 1941, "Waco Dons -- named for a recently deceased St. Louis Cardinals scout named Don Curtis"
• Waco Missions (1955-1960) - built their own field on J J Flewellen in 1961

Military

• Waco Army Air Field Wolves (1942? & 1943-1945)

Dixie League (C-class)

• Waco Cubs (1933, through June 27), moved to become Pine Bluff Judges (1933), folded end of year

Big State League (B-class)

• Waco Dons (1947), Waco Pirates (1948-1953), then Longview Pirates - 1947 Dons included many former 1946 semipro Dons players BSL Dons took their name from the semipro Dons
• Waco Pirates (1954-1956)

Negro teams

See also: Playing in Shadows: Texas and Negro League Baseball [8]

• Waco Black Navigators (1916-1919, then became the San Antonio Black Aces) - as part of the Colored Texas League
• Waco Black Cardinals (?-1930-1933-?-1947-?-1955-1956-?) - part of the Texas-Oklahoma Negro League
• Waco Yellow Jackets (1896-1900-?-1907-1910-?, latter dates from , start date from )
• Waco Preston Packers (1946)
• Waco Redlegs/Athletics (1958-1960)
• Waco Tigers (1953-1959-?) - played on a cow pasture
  

Major League Exhibitions

March 11, 1905 - St Louis Cardinals - "opening game of baseball at Katy Park"
March 1907 - Cincinnati Reds vs Waco Navigators
March 1907 - Washington Nationals vs Waco Navigators
March 28, 1908 - New York Giants vs Waco Navigators
March 1909 - Washington Nationals vs Waco Navigators
March 16, 1910 - New York Giants vs Indianapolis Browns
February 1912 - Chicago White Sox
March 1913 - St Louis Browns vs Waco Navigators
March 1913 - Philly Athletics vs Waco Navigators
March 1916 - Detroit Tigers vs Waco Navigators
March 1917 - Detroit Tigers vs Waco Navigators
March 1920 - Chicago "Black Sox" spring training at Katy Park
April 4, 1929 - New York Yankees vs Waco Cubs
March 28, 1930 - Chicago White Sox vs Waco Cubs
May 5, 1930 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Waco Black Cardinals (under Monarchs' portable light system)
October 16, 1931 - Connie Mack Jr's All-Stars vs Waco Packers (All-Stars included Ernest Orsatti, Bill Sweeney, Art Shires, Lew Fonseca, Red Kress, Bing Miller, John Kerr, Bill Dickey, Benny Bengough, Rube Walberg, Lefty Gomez, Al Thomas, Fred Marberry, Burleigh Grimes, Charlie Gehringer and Earl Whitehill)
April 4, 1936 - Chicago White Sox vs Pittsburgh Pirates
April 26, 1938 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Chicago American Giants (Negro American League pro exhibition)
April 1-2, 1939 - St Louis Browns vs Philadelphia Phillies
April 3, 1941 - Brooklyn Dodgers vs Dallas Rebels
April 8, 1941 - St Louis Cardinals vs Dallas Rebels
April 20, 1944 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Cincinnati Clowns (Negro American League pro exhibition)
May 29, 1944 - St Louis Stars vs Atlanta Black Crackers (Negro American League pro exhibition)
September 22, 1944 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Cincinnati Clowns (Negro American League pro exhibition)
April 30, 1946 - Memphis Red Sox vs Chicago American Giants (Negro American League pro exhibition)
April 1947 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Cincinnati Clowns (Negro American League pro exhibition)
April 7, 1948 - Chicago Cubs vs St Louis Browns
April 26, 1949 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Indianapolis Clowns (Negro American League pro exhibition)
October 27, 1949 - "Satchel Paige and his Negro Stars vs. Memphis Red Sox"
September 21, 1950 - Kansas City Monarchs vs Indianapolis Clowns (Negro American League pro exhibition)
October 30, 1951 - "Ray Campanella's All-Stars" vs "American Negro League All-Stars" (players included Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, Hank Thompson, Luke Easter, Suitcase Simpson, and Larry Doby)
June 21, 1955 - Memphis Red Sox vs Birmingham Black Barons (Negro American League pro exhibition)
October 28, 1955 - "Major League All-Stars" vs "Colored American League All-Stars" (players included Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Junior Gilliam, George Crowe, Gene Baker, Hank Thompson, Charlie White, Louis Louden, Joe Black, Sam Jones, Ace Robinson, Don Kennedy, Monty Irvin, Hank Thompson, & Brooks Lawrence)
April 6, 1956 - Pittsburgh Pirates vs New Orleans Pelicans
October 19, 1959 - "Hank Aaron All-Stars" vs "Harmon Killebrew All-Stars" (players included Ken Aspromonte, Dick Williams, Frank Bolling, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Lemon, Hal Smith, Bobby Morgan, Russ Nixon, Paul Foytack, George Crowe, Al Smith, Jim Pendleton, Hank Aaron, Charlie White, John Roseboro, Harry Simpson, Bill White, Earl Battey, Connie Johnson, Don Newcombe, Bud Daley, Jim Bunning, and Cal McLish)

Major League Hall of Famers Who Played at Katy Park

• Kid Nichols
• Jake Beckley
• Walter Johnson
• Rube Marquard
• Christy Mathewson
• Ed Walsh
• Bobby Wallace
• Home Run Baker
• Chief Bender
• Eddie Collins
• Herb Pennock
• Eddie Plank
• Harry Heilmann
• Eddie Collins
• Red Faber
• Ray Schalk
• Earle Combs
• Bill Dickey
• Leo Durocher
• Lou Gehrig
• Waite Hoyt
• Tony Lazzeri
• Babe Ruth
• Luke Appling
• Lefty Gomez
• Burleigh Grimes
• Charlie Gehringer
• Arky Vaughan
• Paul Waner
• Pie Traynor
• Joe Medwick
• Pee Wee Reese
• Chuck Klein
• Johnny Mize
• Enos Slaughter
• Willard Brown
• Andy Cooper (also, a Waco native)
• Bullet Rogan
• Hilton Smith
• Turkey Stearnes
• Satchel Paige
• Roy Campanella
• Ernie Banks
• Willie Mays
• Hank Aaron
• Roberto Clemente
• Dick Williams
• Harmon Killebrew
• Jim Bunning

From TX League:

• Tris Speaker
• Bill Terry
• Zack Wheat

(also, possibly Ross Youngs, but can't confirm)

Negro League Players that may have played at KP [need further investigation]:

• Raleigh "Biz" Mackey
• Cool Papa Bell
• Bill Foster
• Willie Wells
• Joseph "Smokey Joe" Williams
• Roman Mejias, 55-game hitting streak [9]

Passing reference to "Jackie Robinson All-Stars" having played in KP, but can't find confirmation

Google books (cursory)

• conducive to home runs

• Stump Eddington - pre-Gene Rye

• Segregated bleachers in 1948 (and presumbaly before), [10] In darkness with God: the life of Joseph Gomez, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church

• When Panthers roared: the Fort Worth Cats and minor league baseball [11]

• The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Alpine Cowboys Baseball Club: An Illustrated History of West Texas' Premier Semi-Pro Baseball Team [12]

Photos

• http://www.cnlbr.org/Gallery/BroadsidesandPosters/tabid/87/mid/419/ProjectId/151/wildRC/1/Default.aspx
• Searching "Waco" here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bbcardsquery.html
  • http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/bbc/1300/1330&topImages=1338fr.jpg&topLinks=1338fu.tif&botImages=1338bt.gif&botLinks=1338br.jpg,1338bu.tif&displayProfile=2&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?bbcards:4:./temp/~ammem_LvlP::
  • http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/pnp/bbc/1100/1100&topImages=1102fr.jpg&topLinks=1102fu.tif&botImages=1102bt.gif&botLinks=1102br.jpg,1102bu.tif&displayProfile=2&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?bbcards:2:./temp/~ammem_brcG::
• http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$%28KGrHqN,!iUE2L-ZNhY5BNo%28QLjiE!~~0_3.JPG
  • 1910 T210 Old Mill Cigarettes, Series 3 Blue (Waco Navigators, Texas League)
• http://i51.tinypic.com/2jfx4n.jpg -- photo by User:Woodshed

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WacoKatyParkAerial-1958.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Waco-navigators-1915.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Katy_park_lights.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Katy-park-1953-tornado.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Katy_Park_post_reconstruction.jpg

Negro baseball

• colored league tournaments
  • Robert Gamboa recalls the "Texas Colored Baseball League Championships, where 24 teams with major-league talent competed in minor-league parks." (History program focuses on black baseball greats of Central Texas, TJR, Aug. 10, 2010)

• c'ship postponed by tornado (with league names)

• Katy Park hosted the tournament (aka "Texas Colored Championship Baseball Tournament") each summer from 1945-1962, and possibly later

Yankees

• The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs: Recrowning Baseball's Greatest Slugger
• Ruth ball struck boy "in the head" (pg 87)
• "engulfed in humanity" (pg 235)

Baylor

• 1961 recollections: http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/040811aaa.html

No-hitters at Katy Park

• April 28, 1906 - Carl Hiatt of the Waco Navigators threw a no-hitter against the Temple Boll Weevils in the opening game of the season (Navigators first regular-season home game in Katy Park). Hiatt struck out 7 and walked 3, not allowing any Temple runners to make it past second base.
• July 7, 1909 - John Blakeney of the Houston Pirates threw a no-hitter against the Waco Navigators. He did, however walk 8 batters, and hit two. Waco got runners to third base 4 times, with one of them scoring on an error.
• June 25, 1912 - Hatton "Professor" Ogle of the Waco Navigators threw a no-hitter against the Galveston Sand Crabs. "Only three Galveston players reached first."
• August 16, 1913 - O. K. "Ducky" Swan of the Beaumont Oilers threw a no-hitter against the Waco Navigators. "Swan walked one man and struck out seven."
• May 11, 1916 - Harry Stewart of the San Antonio Bronchos threw a no-hitter against the Waco Navigators. Stewart struck 9 batters out, walking only 4.
• June 24, 1925 - Oscar Tuero of the Waco Cubs threw a no-hitter against the Shreveport Sports. Tuero struck out eight and walked four during the game.
• July 29, 1945 - Hoot Gibson of the Waco Army Air Field Wolves threw a no-hitter against the Childress Army Air Field team in the first round of the 1945 state semipro tournament.
• May 1, 1948 - Don Harbuck of the Baylor Cubs (freshman team) threw a no-hitter against the SMU Colts. However, his perfect mound performance was spoiled by an overthrown ball when trying to pick off a runner, allowing SMU to score.

Boxing

• http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=269517&cat=boxer
• 1944 Texas Welterweight/Middleweight Title Fight - Chuck Hirst vs Manuel Villa (both titles on the line)
• "1950: Joe Louis fights an exhibition against the Fort Hood heavyweight champion at Katy Park. But that's not the big news. Before the fight, at a press conference at the College View Hotel on Elm Street, he announces his retirement."

Wrestling

Mention of regular "Open Air Wrestling" exhibitions - will find source later

Softball

In 1934, Waco City Major Softball League was formed and played at KP

Football in Katy Park

• November 16, 1906 - TCU vs Deaf and Dumb Institute
• November 18, 1915 - Waco High vs North Fort Worth
• October 21, 1949 - Waco Moore vs Galveston Central - nondistrict game
  
• December 2, 1949 - Paul Quinn College vs Tillotson - "game of the year"
  
• November 18, 1950 - Paul Quinn College vs Grambling - Homecoming
  

Tornado

Waco News-Tribune - May 12, 1953 : http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/TXMCLENN/2004-07/1090507212

Blocks Around Katy Park , South Waco Badly Battered

Wrecked houses and massive piles of debris marked the trail of the tornado through South Waco late Monday as sobbing, homeless people milled through the are.

Some of the worst damage extended in an area centered for about eight blocks in all directions around Katy Park, but the brunt of the storm seemed to point southward.

Roofs and walls of houses near the ball park were ripped off. Railroad boxcars were blown over, adding a fantastic scene to the people walking from the scattered remains of their homes. Several hotel near Katy Park were torn up.

and:

Katy Park is a Wreck. The grandstand is smashed flatter than home plate. In, about all that is left if home base.

• "...[Buster] Chatham found refuge in a large engine car" [13]

Info scraps

• Holt's Sporting Goods founded 1907 (source: "Garment employer of more than 200 closes" WTH 2005; later Fab-Knit)

Katy Park Rebuilt

• Renamed "Kirksey baseball park" - from A.H. Kirksey's Jan 19, 1959 obituary: "Kirksey baseball park, renamed in his honor after he rebuilt it following the 1953 tornado."
• Rebuilt with an all-steel structure, at a cost of over $75000

"Katy Park, Trains and All, Readying for Future Thrillers Good old Katy Park, demolished in the tornado, is coming' back again, much improved. Workmen have already erected most of the fences and installed a brand new scoreboard 36 by 26 feet in right center where everyone will be able to see it. The park, where Baylor played most of her home baseball games, will have a seating capacity of 3,200. Eight hundred seats are being added to the left field section. Concrete walls will replace the old wooden walls of the grandstand. Seats will be of wood and steel. A wide aisle running lengthwise will divide the grandstand seats in half, making them easier to reach. Lighting power- will be increased with 160 unbreakable lamps of the latest type. A. H. Kirksey, owner, hopes to have enough grandstand seats ready for the annual Negro Tournament in August. The whole job should take two or three months, he says. Baseball fans are glad to see the old park again taking shape. Plenty of colorful ball games have been played there— and will be played there. All the more colorful with all the trains thundering through and all the announcements for folks to move their cars off the tracks."

Last Game in Katy Park

June 1965 - 21st Negro State Tournament - Katy Park was sold immediately after the tournament

Katy Park Sold

Dallas Morning News - June 17, 1965

Central Texas Notebook - Central Texas Bureau of the News by Thomas Turner

EVEN AFTER you accepted the fact of what television and big league expansion had done to lower-echelon baseball, it was sad to contemplate what had happened to Waco's old Katy Park.

It has been, for years, a faded, sagging gravestone for Waco's long·lost baseball glory. But occasionally the crack of the bat and the pop of the glove still echoed through the aging environs. Now the park's degradation is complete: it's to become a cemelery for car cadavers.

Katy Park, now more than 60 years old, was once the Astrodome of Central Texas. The original Texas League's best roamed the infields and grass, the glittering figures of base. balls golden era pel ted balls over. the wooden fences.

Looking at the park now, occupying a smallish block in Waco's railroad district, it's difficult to imagine the role Katy Park once played as one of the state's busiest and best baseball gardens.

It was the home of the old Waco Navigators ur the early 1900's, so-called bl!cause of the ambitious but ill-fated campaign to build concrete locks from Waco to the Gulf and have a navigable Brazos River.

In 1905 the legal fight to play baseball games on Sunday was won by Waco's team, of all people. Waco has long been a Baptist citadel. and the Baptist to this day generally frown "on Sunday diversions.

On a sultry August night in 1930 a stubby bow·legged Waco Cubs outfielder, Gene Rye, belted out three home runs in one inning as the Cubs clobbered Beaumont 20 to 7. It was the first thne for such a ridiculous feat. Katy Park, that year, was the scene of tlle Texas League's first night game.

The New York Yankees performed there In 1929: the 7,000 fans sat right up to the foul lines, on seats made of boards laid across beer kegs.

The list of big-name baseballers who have demonstrated their prowess in the park's cramped confines would fill a book; some are slill at it in other parks. Birdie Tebbetts managed a star·studded Waco Army Airfield leam there in World War II - an aggregation that could have whipped half of today's major league clubs.

The state's worst tornado on May 11, 1953, ripped directly across old Katy Park, and crumpled fences, lights and stands. That year's Big State League club, the Pirates, finished out the season on the road. Next year, Katy Park was back in business.

But not for long. It was used less and less, and soon looked like An abandoned antebellum mansion gone to pot.

A few days ago Mrs. A. H. Kirksey, whose late husband was president or Holt's Sporting Goods Co., sold Katy Park to a car wrecking company for $37.500.

Another great article and photo! here: http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/lariat/id/42250/rec/3

Conflicting Reports about Date of Katy Park Demolition

• DMN, 1965: "Now the park's degradation is complete: it's to become a cemelery for car cadavers."
• Texas League Book, 1987: "Today Katy Park remains basically intact, although in growing disrepair, and it is one of several old stadiums that still stand as former sites of Texas League baseball."
• NAPP Aerial Photography, 1981: Visibly clear lack of Katy Park structure

M-K-T Railroad

1877 map

Actual books 'n stuff

Ballparks of North America: a comprehensive historical reference to baseball grounds, yards, and stadiums, 1845 to present [14], pg. 405 (not in Google Books)

The Texas League in baseball, 1888-1958 [15] (not in Google Books)

Baseball in the Lone Star State: The Texas League's Greatest Hits [16] (not in Google Books)

The Texas League 1888-1987: A Century of Baseball [17] (not in Google Books) — at Central Library

Champions of Naught Six: The Story of the 1906 Cleburne Railroaders [18] — at Central Library

Playing in Shadows: Texas and Negro League Baseball [19] — at Central Library

Baseball in Dallas [20] (not in Google Books)

Homeseekers, Parasites, and the Texas Midland: The Texas League in Paris: 1896-1904 [21] (not in Google Books)

Ghost Leagues: A History of Minor League Baseball in South Texas [22] (not in Google Books)

Trib articles

Waco ballplayer's record three home runs remembered, Chad Conine, August 6, 2005

Spirit of the Game (Buster Chatham), Terri Jo Ryan, March 20, 2006

It happened here, August 5, 2007, John Werner

3 leagues eyeing Waco for new franchise, August 5, 2007, John Werner

Brice Cherry: Waco's past athletic champions should be remembered, July 17, 2010, Brice Cherry

Waco's rich sports history forgotten amid recent failures (part 1 of 3), July 18, 2010, Brice Cherry

PART 2 — Waco's had numerous brushes with pro sports legends, July 19, 2010, Brice Cherry

speculative sources to chase up

Manufacturers' record, Volume 83, Issues 9-17 [23] — "Waco — Grand Stand — Baseball Club will erect grand stand at Katy Park..."

Negro-related

Heart of Texas records, Volumes 27-29 / CTGS, 1984 [24]

random Trib articles

• S.F. Kirksey to be buried today, WNT, 14 Sep 1930
• 15 other Kirksey obits on "General Keyword" search

Win To-Do

• McLennan CAD lookup for KP lots
  • Who owned it before AT&T and Arc?
  • When was it split into 3 parcels?
  • What was the date of sale to the car wrecking company?
  • When did the car wrecking company sell it?
• Film Research
  • Jan-April 1905: Notes on creation (who originally owned it? what was it before KP? "circus park"? who designed it?)
  • Rennovations
    • March 1916 - new grandstand
    • March 1923 - replace grandstand after was demolished in 1920-1922 "Baylor Bears...Formally Open New Katy Park" March 30, 1923
    • June 28, 1928 - Grandstand partially destroyed by fire
    • June 1930 - Lights Added
    • April 1938 - 2000 seats added
  • Any of the above-listed Major League Exhibition games that sound interesting
  • Any of the above-listed No-Hitters that sound interesting
  • Football in KP
    • October 21, 1949 - Waco Moore vs Galveston Central
    • December 2, 1949 - Paul Quinn College vs Tillotson
    • November 18, 1950 - Paul Quinn College vs Grambling
  • Search post-May 1963 to see if any games played in KP later than this date (State Colored Tourney usually held in July @KP)
• Waco Directories
  • Humble Filling Station (find first & last year)
  • Car Wrecking Co

Inspirado

FA

• Herschel Greer Stadium (minors)
• Dr Pepper Ballpark (minors)
• PNC Park

GA

• Forbes Field
• Three Rivers Stadium

Article Format

Here is an exhaustive listing of the sections used by the FA/GA stadium articles above. We can use this as an idea of what we want the KP article to look like. Obviously we won't be using all of them, and there are some redundant sections, but it's a good place to start:

Intro

• History
  • Planning & Design
  • Opening
  • Playing field
  • Seating & Tickets
  • Closing & Demolition
  • Memorials
• Events
  • Baseball
    • All-Star Games
    • Major league exhibitions
    • No-hitters and perfect games
    • Other notable events
  • Football
  • Boxing et al
• Stadium Usage
• Architecture
• Scoreboard
• Facilities
• Critical Reaction
• Ground rules
• References
• External Links