Питтсбургтың «Форбс Филд» стадионы: Бейсбол тарихындағы із

Baseball field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
the airport formerly known as Forbes Field

Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League (NFL) franchise. From 1909 to 1924, the stadium also served as the home football field for the University of Pittsburgh "Pitt" Panthers. The stadium sat on Forbes Avenue, named for British general John Forbes, who fought in the French and Indian War and named the city in 1758. The US$1 million ($ million today) project was launched by Pittsburgh Pirates' owner Barney Dreyfuss to replace his franchise's second home, Exposition Park. The stadium was made of concrete and steel, the first such stadium in the National League and third in Major League Baseball, in a bid to be more durable than wooden ballparks. The Pirates opened Forbes Field on June 30, 1909, against the Chicago Cubs, and played the final game against the Cubs on June 28, 1970. The field itself featured a large playing surface, with the batting cage placed in the deepest part of center field during games. Seating was altered multiple times throughout the stadium's life; at times fans were permitted to sit on the grass in the outfield during overflow crowds. The Pirates won three World Series while at Forbes Field; the Pittsburgh Panthers football team had five undefeated seasons before moving in 1924. In 1958, broadcaster Bob Prince dubbed Forbes Field "The House of Thrills" for the then resurgent Pirates and several games that saw late inning heroics. Some remnants of the ballpark still stand, surrounded by the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Fans gather on the site annually on the anniversary of Bill Mazeroski's World Series winning home run, in what author Jim O'Brien writes is "one of the most unique expressions of a love of the game to be found in a major league city". Dreyfuss purchased seven acres of land near the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, adjacent to Schenley Park, with assistance from his friend, industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The low priced land was selected so Dreyfuss could spend more on the stadium itself. The site was initially labeled "Dreyfuss's Folly" due to its long distance—a 10 minute trolley ride—from downtown Pittsburgh, but the land around the park developed and criticisms were dropped. Official Pirates' records show that Forbes Field cost US$1 million for site acquisition and construction. However, some estimates place the cost at twice that amount. Dreyfuss announced that unlike established wooden ballparks such as the Polo Grounds, he would build a three tiered stadium out of steel and concrete to increase longevity—the first of its kind in the nation. Charles Wellford Leavitt Jr. was contracted to design the stadium's grandstand. A civil engineer, Leavitt had founded an engineering and landscape architecture firm in 1897. Initial work on the land began on January 1, 1909,

After Dreyfuss died in 1935, there was renewed media interest in renaming the stadium "Dreyfuss Field". His widow, Florence, resisted. However, a monument to Dreyfuss was placed in center field just in front of the wall.

Forbes Field had an original capacity of 25,000, the largest in the league at the time. temporary bleachers were set up for the occasion and cost $0.50. When winning streaks attracted high attendance to games, fans were permitted to sit on the grass in right field, provided they agreed to allow a player to catch any ball hit in the area. The lowest season of attendance came in 1914, when 139,620 people attended games; the highest at the stadium came in 1960, when 1,705,828 people watched the Pirates play. At 200 people, June 10, 1938, was believed to have marked the smallest crowd to ever attend a Pirates game (against the Philadelphia Phillies), however, Baseball Reference has the attendance for that game listed as 1,034. On September 30, 1962, a crowd of 40,916 people saw the Steelers defeated by the New York Giants, at the Steelers' highest attended game at the stadium. Following a plan to expand their adjacent campus, the University of Pittsburgh purchased Forbes Field in 1958, with an agreement to lease the stadium to the Pirates until a replacement could be built. A proposal for a new sports stadium in Pittsburgh was first made in 1948, but plans did not attract much attention until the late 1950s. Construction began on Three Rivers Stadium on April 25, 1968. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs played a double header on June 28, 1970. Pittsburgh won the first game 3–2. In the later game Al Oliver hit the last home run in the park, and Matty Alou drove in two runs as the Pirates closed the 62 year old stadium with a 4–1 victory. The 40,918 spectators in attendance stood and cheered as Dave Giusti retired Willie Smith for the final out (recorded by Bill Mazeroski) at the stadium. Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente played 15 seasons at Forbes Field. He was emotional during the last game saying, "I spent half my life there." After the game, home plate was dug up and taken by helicopter to Three Rivers Stadium to be installed in the artificial turf. A community group attempted to rescue the structure from demolition, proposing such things as a stage, apartments and a farmers market for the site and comparing it to the Eiffel Tower in significance. The abandoned structure suffered two separate fires that damaged the park, on December 24, 1970, and July 17, 1971. Eleven days after the second fire, demolition began, and the site was cleared for use by the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1955, a statue of Honus Wagner was dedicated in Schenley Plaza adjacent to Forbes Field. Several thousand fans attended the dedication as well as Wagner himself. His failing health caused him to never leave his open convertible in which he arrived (Wagner died near the end of that year). The statue was moved to Three Rivers Stadium in 1970. Today, the statue stands at the home plate entrance of PNC Park. Meanwhile, the original location of that wall is outlined by bricks extending from the left center field wall across Roberto Clemente Drive and into the sidewalk. A plaque embedded in the sidewalk marks the spot where Mazeroski's home run cleared the wall. In addition, a wooden replica of an entrance to the stadium, including a ticket window and players entrance, was constructed and placed near the remaining wall in 2006. The home plate used in the stadium's final game remains preserved in the University of Pittsburgh's Posvar Hall. However, its location has been altered; author John McCollister wrote, "Had architects placed home plate in its precise spot about half of the Pirates fans could not view it. The reason: it would have to be on display in the fifth stall of the ladies' restroom." However, the original location of the home plate has been more recently determined by others to be approximately 81 feet (25 m) away from its current display, just inside the GSPIA/Economics Library, and not in a restroom as has been popularly believed. A ceremony is held each October 13 at the outfield wall in Oakland to listen to a taped broadcast of the final game of the 1960 World Series. The tradition was started by Squirrel Hill resident Saul Finkelstein, who at 1:05 pm on October 13, 1985, sat alone at the base of the flagpole and listened to the NBC radio broadcast of Chuck Thompson and Jack Quinlan. Finkelstein continued the tradition for eight more years, until word spread and other people began attending in 1993. For the 50th anniversary, on October 13, 2010, a plaque honoring Mazeroski was dedicated and more than 1,000 attended the broadcast, including Mazeroski and several other former Pirates.

In 1909, Forbes Field's opening season, the Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. It was the only meeting of eventual Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb. On October 2, 1920, Forbes Field hosted the last triple header in MLB history. Regular broadcasts of Pirates games began over KDKA in 1936, announced by A. K. "Rosey" Rowswell, a local humorist and friend of team owner Bill Benswanger. Rowswell is quoted as describing his broadcasting with, "It's not just play by play that matters. It's what you say in between the pitches that counts." His style influenced junior partner Bob Prince, who began broadcasting in 1948. Rowswell broadcast games at Forbes Field until his death in 1955. Pittsburgh's third and final World Series championship while they played at Forbes Field came in 1960. Bill Mazeroski hit the first home run to end a World Series and as of the end of the 2020 season, the only walk off home run in World Series Game 7 history. These two World Series victories mark the only times that the Pirates clinched a championship at home, with Forbes Field hosting both. Two unassisted triple plays were turned at Forbes Field. The first took place on May 7, 1925, when Pittsburgh's Glenn Wright achieved the feat. Two seasons later, in 1927, Jimmy Cooney—who had been a victim of the first triple play—also acquired three outs by himself. Most of the game action scenes from the 1951 film Angels in the Outfield were filmed at the stadium. Grays owner Cumberland Posey became friends with Dreyfuss, who rarely missed a Grays game. In 1930, Josh Gibson made his premiere for the Grays at Forbes Field. Also in 1930, the Grays and the Kansas City Monarchs played the first baseball game at night in Pittsburgh on July 18, 1930. A crowd of over 15,000 was expected. Floodlights were installed the day before the game after they were transported from Cleveland, where the Grays and Monarchs had played on July 16. Six members of the Grays' 1936 team have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Beginning in 1937, the Grays won nine consecutive Negro National League championships. The University of Pittsburgh's baseball team also often used Forbes Field for home games.

The University of Pittsburgh's football team moved from Exposition Park into Forbes Field upon its opening in 1909 and played there until 1924 when it moved into the larger Pitt Stadium only a few blocks away. In their first game at Forbes Field on October 16, 1909, the Panthers defeated Bucknell University 18–6. In 1910, Pitt's second year at Forbes Field, the Panthers went undefeated without allowing a single point. The Panthers had several successful seasons while playing at Forbes Field, including five in which they went undefeated and were awarded national championship titles in 1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918. During their years at Forbes Field, Pitt's teams were led by Hall of Fame coaches Joe Thompson, Glenn "Pop" Warner and Jock Sutherland. Forbes Field was the site of yet another broadcasting first when on October 8, 1921, Harold W. Arlin announced live play by play action of the Pitt West Virginia football game on radio station KDKA, the first live radio broadcast of a college football game in the United States. Duquesne University also played many of their home games there in the 1930s and 1940s. Pittsburgh native, Art Rooney founded his NFL team under the name the Pittsburgh Pirates, on July 8, 1933, for $2,500 ($ in present day terms). The franchise's first game, against the New York Giants, was held on September 20, 1933, at Forbes Field. The Giants won the game 23–2 in front of 25,000 people. Rooney wrote of the game, "The Giants won. Our team looks terrible. The fans didn't get their money's worth." The Pirates rebounded to gain their first ever franchise victory a week later at Forbes Field, against the Chicago Cardinals. On November 30, 1952, the Steelers met the New York Giants at Forbes Field for a snowy afternoon game. Pittsburgh entered the game with a 3–6 record, but went on to set multiple team records, including scoring nine touchdowns, to win the game 63–7. Excited by their team's play, the 15,140 spectators ran onto the field and began to tear the field goal posts out of the ground. The University of Pittsburgh's acquisition of Forbes Field in 1958 gave the Steelers some options, and they began transferring some of their home games to the much larger Pitt Stadium that year. The Steelers played their final game at Forbes Field on December 1, 1963. The franchise moved to Pitt Stadium exclusively the following season.

Boxing bouts were held at Forbes Field from the 1910s to the 1950s, attracting crowds of over 15,000 people. On June 23, 1919, Harry "The Pittsburgh Windmill" Greb—the only boxer to beat Gene Tunney—defeated Mike Gibbons in a ten round bout at Forbes Field. Another bout on September 25, 1939, was attended by 17,000 people including Art Rooney and Pie Traynor. Pittsburgh native Billy Conn defended his light heavyweight title against Melio Bettina, whom he had beaten months earlier. Conn won the bout by decision in 15 rounds. Two years later, on June 18, 1941, Conn fought Joe Louis at New York City's Polo Grounds, in an attempt to become the world heavyweight champion. The Pirates and the New York Giants, who were playing at Forbes Field, were called into their dugouts while the 24,738 fans in attendance listened to the radio broadcast of the hour long bout. Conn led the bout into the final round, but fought for the knockout and was knocked out himself. On Sunday, October 17, 1909, at 3:00 p. m. a communion service was held at Forbes Field as the culmination of the International Centennial Celebration and Conventions of the Disciples of Christ marking the 100th anniversary of the signing of the "Declaration and Address" by Thomas Campbell in September 1809. Campbell was a founding father of the American Restoration Movement (Disciples of Christ, Christian Church, Churches of Christ). Delegates and members of churches from all over the world were present. The Mine Safety and Health Administration hosted a mine rescue and safety demonstration at Forbes on October 30, 1911. The event included first aid and rescue demonstrations. Around 15,000 attended the event, including President William H. Taft.

Forbes Field in the early 1910s from the Library of Congress, intended to form a panorama.