Majestic Park
Boston Red Sox Players at Majestic Park, 1912. Left to Right, Duffy Lewis, Harry Hooper, and Tris Speaker.
Majestic Park was a baseball park in Hot Springs, AR and was used as a major league spring training site from 1909-1920.
History
Majestic Park was located on the corner of Belding Avenue and Carson Street in Hot Springs, AR, just east of Hot Springs Creek. The field was built in the spring of 1909 by Boston Red Sox owner John Taylor to be used a spring training site for his club. the ballpark's likely name was likely in some relation to the Majestic Hotel where the Red Sox stayed.
Majestic Park was primarily just a practice field, but also hosted exhibition games. A backstop and a section of wooden bleachers were the main features of the park.
The Red Sox returned to Majestic Park in 1910, and with them, both the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom Majestic Park was shared. In mid March, twenty-five Brooklyn Dodgers and 200 other spectators were seated in the grandstand when it collapsed. Luckily, the grandstand was only a few feet high and nobody was injured.
Boston continued to use Majestic Park for the next 10 years, save for 1911 when the St. Louis Browns and Cincinnati Reds train at the park, and 1919 when nobody train in Hot Springs. Among the players to train at Majestic Park over the years include Babe Ruth, Harry Hooper, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock and Tris Speaker.
Sometime around 1920, Majestic Park was closed because of a railroad built on the property. Since then, numerous other baseball fields have been built on the site. In the 1930s, Dean Field was located on the site, and in 1947, Jaycee Park was built on the southern end of the property. Today, the Hot Springs Boys And Girls Club owns the property and it is known as the Jaycee Park Baseball Complex.
Spring Training Camps
The following is a list of spring training camps at Majestic Park.
| Year | Team | League | Ballpark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1909 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1910 | Boston | American | Majestic Park |
| 1911 | Cincinnati | National | Majestic Park |
| - | St. Louis | American | Majestic Park |
| 1912 | Boston | American | Majestic Park |
| 1913 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1914 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1915 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1916 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1917 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1918 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
| 1920 | Boston Red Sox | American | Majestic Park |
Sources
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