The Rich History of Bosse Field and Baseball in Evansville, Indiana
Today we travel to Evansville, Indiana to cover one of the hidden treasures in baseball history: historic Bosse Field.
Bosse Field is located at 23 Don Mattingly Way in Evansville, Indiana. The name pays homage to possibly the greatest player to hail from the area, outside of Tecumseh High School’s legendary catcher Brad Meyer. For every Don Mattingly or Andy Benes, the Evansville area has produced, there are several Brad Meyers or Drew Sellers, the baseball greats that remain secrets, only known to those in the area.
Obscure Fun Fact #1: Brad Meyer was a legendary catcher for the Tecumseh Braves in Lynnville, Indiana between 2000-2003. While he brought a power bat, no statistic could measure his intangibles. I don’t believe WAR has a component in the equation to give credit for the psych-out. As catcher, Meyer once talked so much trash to an opposing team’s best hitter that the guy struck out then in frustration, took a swing at Brad…with his bat. Not only did the batter make an out, but he was also ejected from the game and potentially arrested. That’s worth one win above replacement in my book.
Obscure Fun Fact #2: Babe Ruth once called his shot on a home run at Wrigley Field in 1932, but Drew Sellers called a home run and the death of a small family of birds in the early 2000s, just a few miles outside of Evansville. Not only did he announce that he was taking the pitcher deep, he pointed to where it would land. The top of a tree just past the right-field line and in the nest full of newly hatched eggs of a local robin. The sound of the ball off the bat was deafening. Those with hearing impairments could feel the shockwave from the impact of the ball. The crowd grew silent. They had just witnessed a mammoth home run and the death of a bird family all at once. It was joy, then uncertainty and sadness… that is except for Drew. He laughed hysterically as he rounded the bases, veins protruding from his forehead as he broke the stunned silence with a declaration, “I called it!”
Back to Evansville
Back to Don Mattingly, any kid who grew up in the 80s or 90s in Southern Indiana has a special place in his/her heart for the Yankees’ slugger, no matter how they felt about the Yankees.
Evansville is in a strange spot for baseball fans. The long arms of the NL Central are tugging at the hearts of its citizens from the East, North, and the West. Some hearts are claimed by the Reds, some bleed Cubbie blue, and many claim the Cards as their own.
I grew up idolizing Cardinals’ greats like Ozzie Smith and even got to see Albert Pujols in-person, playing third base no less, during his rookie season. At the same time, my family had no allegiance to any team in particular, so I never really understood the sacrilege taking place when I’d also pretend to be Ryne Sandberg in the backyard instead of Ozzie.
Without the family ties to a specific team, I just grew up a baseball fan. I loved them all. Eventually my family got cable TV and the Atlanta Braves were able to travel with me all the way to Colorado and back, but that’s neither here nor there.
Evansville is a blue-collar city of roughly 118,000 people. It is the place all the rural townsfolk (like myself) would travel to for weekends of shopping, movie-going, fast-food eating, or to watch a live, professional baseball game.
As evidenced by the University of Evansville’s recent victory over the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in college basketball, many people around the country have never heard of the place. Even if they have heard of Evansville, then they probably have no idea about the treasured piece of baseball history that sits within.
Bosse Field is a Legend
Bosse Field is a legend. It opened in 1915 and is the third-oldest ballpark to host professional baseball in the country. It is also the nation’s first municipally-owned baseball park. The only two stadiums that still host professional baseball older than Bosse Field are Fenway in Boston (1914) and Wrigley in Chicago (1912).
Bosse Field is currently the home of the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League. The Otters have been providing the residents of the Evansville area with some baseball of their own since 1995. The Otters have had nearly 40 players sign with major-league affiliated teams in that time. Notably, George Sherrill, the former All-Star closer for the Baltimore Orioles once called Bosse Field his home park.
However, the field has seen a lot more history than just the Otters.
Bosse Field and “A League of Their Own”
So, you may not know anything about Evansville but the odds are you’ve watched some form of baseball being played on the grass and in the dirt of Bosse Field. The hit movie “A League of Their Own” was filmed in Chicago, Henderson, Evansville, and other parts of southern Indiana.
The Rockford Peaches’ home park was filmed at League Stadium in Huntingburg, Indiana. League Stadium is actually Bosse Field’s elder by 21 years.
The Racine Peaches home games were filmed at historic Bosse Field. It still holds the charm of the World War II setting from the movie, but this is more than a movie set. This is a real ballpark that has hosted legends of the game dating back to its construction in 1915.
Bosse Field – Host to the Ghosts of Baseball
Bosse Field has been gouged by the cleats of 100 Hall of Fame players in its history. The stadium was named after the city’s major Benjamin Bosse. It opened on June 17, 1915 as the Evansville Evas shut out the Erie Eries (don’t laugh, they still don’t try very hard on minor league team names) 4-0.
8,082 fans were in attendance to see the new stadium that day, which is very impressive considering the city’s population at that time was between 70,000-80,000 people. Emil Grefe and Punch Knoll represented their hometown on that team.
What’s in a name? They may not have had the best team names back then, but they sure knew how to do people’s names.
Evansville would finish the season 72-50 and would win the Class-B Central League Championship in Bosse Field’s first season.
Leagues, team names, and affiliations changed over the years, but the game remained.
Team Name Alert: In1927, Evansville finished 35 games behind the first-place Peoria Tractors. I wish I could have been in on some of those team-name meetings.
“Tom, what do you think we should name the team?”
”Bill, I don’t care. That field is a wreck and it’s my job to make sure it’s in good condition. I don’t care about the name, I care about the field, and that’s all I’m concerned about. Name the team the tractors because it will take a whole team of John Deeres to have this field ready by opening day.”
(Bill takes another swig of bourbon)
“Done!”
Bosse Field – Indiana Legend Chuck Klein
Future Hall of Famer Chuck Klein kept the Evansvillians entertained during that 50-84 season of 1927. Klein would go on to star with the Philadelphia Phillies and would win the 1932 N.L. MVP Award.
Fun Fact: Chuck is an Indiana treasure. Not only did he play for Evansville, but he was born in Indianapolis, went to high school in Indianapolis, and died in Indianapolis.
Bosse Field – Tigers Come Bearing Gifts of Greenburg
The following season, Major League Baseball came to the rescue. Evansville had never had an affiliation with a major-league team, but that was about to change. They announced a partnership with the Detroit Tigers, who immediately dumped $50,000 into renovations and updates to the ballpark.
Along with the affiliation came future major-league ballplayers, including legendary first baseman Hank Greenburg. He would go on to win two MVPs and even hit 58 homers in 1938. Yes, Hank Greenburg once called Bosse Field his home.
Hank Greenburg’s only season in Evansville: .318 average with 66 extra-base hits, including 15 homers.
A Brave New Evansville
In 1938, the Boston Braves tagged in and partnered up with the Evansville team. That season, they went 77-47 and drew nearly 100,000 fans, which was good for over 30,000 more than second place in the Three-I League.
Name Alert: When Evansville became affiliated with Boston they assumed the nickname of the Bees, nature’s one-shot Johnny.
In 1941, the Braves sent a promising 20-year-old, left-handed pitcher to Evansville for some seasoning, his name was Warren Spahn.
Spahn gave Evansville a glimpse of the Hall of Fame career he would go on to have. That season he went 19-6 with a 1.83 ERA in 28 starts for the Bees.
During World War II, Bosse Field became the Detroit Tigers’ spring training facility for five-straight seasons.
In 1946, Evansville won its first league title since 1915.
Bosse Field – “Just a Bit Outside!”
Bob Eucker joined the Evansville Braves as a catcher in 1957. Uecker went on to play six major-league seasons, but he really made his impact as an announcer. He became the radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971 and still holds that position today. He played the legendary, fictitious announcer Harry Doyle from the movie Major League, and belongs to several broadcaster’s Hall of Fames, the Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster, and he’s even a member of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Bosse Field – Twins to Triplets
From 1966-1968 Evansville became the Double-A affiliate for the Chicago White Sox. In 1970 they became the Triple-A affiliate for the Minnesota Twins, they were aptly named the Evansville Triplets.
Name Alert: Even though Evansville and the Twins ended their affiliation after one season, the name “Triplets” stuck until 1984, despite the fact that it now made no sense. The sentiment seemed to be “who cares?”
In 1970, their first year with the Twins, a 19-year-old Bert Blyleven made his final stop in the minor leagues before embarking on a 22-year major-league career. Blyleven was a man ahead of his time, treating Evansville fans to modern-day strikeout numbers.
While in Evansville, Blyleven struck out 63 batters in 54 innings with two complete games in just seven starts for the Triplets.
“I refuse to Believe Jim Leyland was once 34-years-old.”
The team’s affiliation bounced from the Twins to the Brewers and finally settled on the Tigers in 1974. They were now a part of the American Association and by 1979, future legendary big-league manager, and 1979’s AA Manager of the Year Jim Leyland took over as manager at age 34. He led the Triplets to a league championship in his first season at the helm.
Historical Point of Reference: We have confirmed that Jim Leyland was indeed 34-years-old at one point.
Bosse Field -1984
The legendary Jack Morris made a couple of stops in AAA-Evansville for the Tigers. Once in 1977 and again in 1979. Jack Morris would go on to have Hall of Fame career. He was a three-time World Series champion. He won in 1992 with the Blue Jays and was named World Series MVP in 1991 with the Twins when he outdueled John Smoltz in Game 7 in what some believe is the greatest pitcher’s duel in the history of baseball. His third World Series victory came in 1984 with the Tigers.
That Tigers team included fellow Triplets, Lance Parrish, and Kirk Gibson. While former Evansville players were off celebrating their world championship, Evansville baseball came to an end.
Baseball didn’t come back until three years after the movie was filmed.
Bosse Field – The Otters Era
Ultimately, the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League made themselves at home in 1995 and they have been there ever since. Like most of the other versions of professional baseball in Evansville, the Otters have dominated their league in attendance numbers.
Evansville is home to some of the greatest baseball fans in the country. They may not get the recognition because they don’t have a major-league team, but they are there. Supporting the Cardinals, the Cubs, the Reds, and more, all the while making the Bosse Field the place to be on a summer’s night in southern Indiana.
The legends of the likes of Warren Spahn and Brad Meyer reverberate off the banks of the Ohio River and can be found amalgamating into a smooth blend of nostalgia and the here-and-now, all under the banner of the game of baseball.
It’s like blending a touch of chocolate syrup into vanilla ice cream and then stirring it all up. By the end, your arm is tired and your mouth is watering, but the shake is a united chocolate color… How was I going to tie this into baseball? Who cares, now I want some ice cream.
I took my kids to their first pro-baseball games at Bosse Field and watched players fielding grounders and smashing hanging breaking balls on the same field that hosted Hank Greenburg, Warren Spahn, and Tom Hanks.
Walking through the tunnel and into the grandstand at Bosse Field can feel like stepping out of a time machine. In a way, it is. You can feel the history of the game and the look of the old stadium is well preserved.
Go and find an empty baseball field in southern Indiana at night and shut your eyes. The spirituality of the game lingers in the air like chili fart on a humid Sunday afternoon. You can still hear the crack of the bat, you can still hear Jim Leyland cursing at the umpires, you can still hear Brad Meyer singing to himself between batters, “I wish I was an Oscar Meyer wiener…”
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If you are ever near the Evansville area and you fancy yourself a baseball fan, do yourself a favor and catch a game at 23 Don Mattingly Way.