Hot Springs Baseball Grounds
Hot Springs Baseball Grounds was a baseball park in Hot Springs, AR and was the home field of the Hot Springs Base Ball Association and the Hot Springs Blues. In addition, it was used as a major league spring training site from 1886-1893.History
It is unclear exactly where baseball was played in Hot Springs prior to Whittington Park's erection in 1894. More specifically, it is unclear precisely where in Hot Springs the Chicago White Stockings and other teams played during spring training. Consequently, modern baseball historians created the title "Hot Springs Baseball Grounds" to refer to the baseball grounds that existed in Hot Springs before Whittington Park. This title is unofficial and not original to the grounds, which had no specific known name and may have actually included more than one location.
Present-day grounds of the Garland County Courthouse.
Following the White Stockings' spring training camp, the Hot Springs Base Ball Association erected an enclosed baseball park complete with a grandstand and dressing room3. The location of this ballpark, however, is not certain, and as a result, it is not clear whether the ballpark was built at the same location as the White Stocking's 1886 training grounds. It does appear, however, that Chicago utilized the grounds of the baseball association when the team returned in 18874. With no known mention of a new baseball park built in Hot Springs until Whittington Park in 1894, it is assumed that the grounds of the baseball association were the primary grounds used for spring training during the next several years.
Spring Training Camps
The following is a list of spring training camps believed to be held at the Hot Springs Baseball Grounds.
| Year | Team | League | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1886 | Chicago | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| 1887 | Chicago | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Des Moines | Northwestern | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| 1888 | Chicago | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| 1889 | Pittsburgh | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Cleveland | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| 1890 | Chicago | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Cleveland | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Buffalo | Players | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Denver | Western | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| 1891 | Cincinnati | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Milwaukee | American Association | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | St. Paul | Western | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| 1892 | Chicago | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
| - | Cleveland | National | Hot Springs Baseball Grounds |
Excerpts
"The preparing and grading of the grounds of the Base Ball association was finished Friday, and the fence will be up in a few days. The fence is on a new and novel principle, requiring no nails or iron in its construction, and can be taken down and packed away in a very short time. The fence will be ten feet high, enclosing grounds 350 feet wide and 500 feet long. Inside the inclosure [sic] will be erected a grand stand capable of seating 500 persons, with dressing and exercise rooms underneath for the members and their friends, and store-rooms with different outfits of the teams. In fact, the whole arrangements, when consummated, will compare favorable with any in the southern country . . . The fence around the ball grounds will be completed next Thursday, so we are informed by Mr. S. Schultice, who has the contract."3
"The street railroad will be extended to the ball park . . . Your correspondent took a run to the baseball park this afternoon to see the local and visiting players practice. The directors of the club have enlarged the grounds and are putting in a new diamond. The fence around the ballpark is well put up and there is a large force cleaning the grounds of small stones and rubbish. The Superintendent of the grounds consulted Dave Foutz of the Browns today as to his opinion of the grounds. Dave gave him his opinion . . ."4
" . . . a makeshift field stood near where the Garland County Court House stands today."1
1. The American Spa: Hot Springs, Arkansas, by Dee Brown, quoted in Boiling Out at the Springs by Don Duren
2. Boiling Out at the Springs, by Don Duren, p.28
3. Arkansas Gazette, 6/27/1886
4. The Sporting News, 3/5/1887, p.1
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