The One Constant Through All the Years Has Been Baseball...In the Jungle
"People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh...people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come." ‒ Terence Mann played by James Earl Jones inField of Dreams (1989).
Black Sox emerge from cornfield in Field of Dreams (1989)
The 2020 baseball season will open (with an asterisk) on July 23 when Dr. Anthony Fauci throws out the ceremonial first pitch in Washington D.C.
The tradition began on April 14, 1910 at National Park in Washington when President Taft threw out the first pitch. That same year, events were set in motion that would bring baseball and many of its stars to the Jungle.
It was in 1910 that a 39-year-old businessman from Pittsburgh named Al Lang was informed by his doctors that he had less than a year to live. His lungs had been damaged from chemical fumes in his laundry business and from Pittsburgh's poor air quality. St. Petersburg had a reputation as the healthiest city in America, so Lang sold his laundry business and moved here just hoping to add a few years to his life. Instead, he recovered completely and lived to age 89. "The Sunshine City" saved his life. He became active in civic affairs, promoting the city's health benefits and helping lead St. Petersburg to international recognition as a tourist destination.
Al Lang brought baseball to the Jungle
In his youth, Lang used to hang out with the Pittsburgh baseball players and often attended games with his friend Barney Dreyfuss, who would later become the owner of the Pirates. After moving to St. Petersburg, Lang yearned to have major league baseball back in his life. Using his persuasive skills and his connections with major league executives, Lang was influential in bringing spring training baseball to St. Petersburg in 1915.
St. Petersburg Times March 5, 1916
Al Lang lived in the Jungle and brought his love of baseball to the neighborhood. In 1916, he became the first president of the Country Club at Davista (later renamed the Jungle Country Club). Many baseball players loved to play golf and found their way to the Jungle course during the winter and spring. Lang organized a baseball banquet every year at the Jungle Hotel that brought together baseball's executives, sportswriters, players, umpires, and retirees.
In 1968, the New York Mets built a spring training center, Payson Field, in the Walter Fuller Recreation Center and held camp every spring though 1987. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays took over the facilities from 1998-2008. Today, the baseball diamonds and training area are Baseball City
Aerial view of Baseball City in the Jungle. (source: baseballcity.com)
