Coffee Pot Park was built in 1914 to serve as the spring training home of the St. Louis Browns. On the internet, an incorrect photo of the park is being circulated.
The picture below is not Coffee Pot Park, although some sources identify it as such. I'm not sure where this field is. An article on the Town Ball Stories blog identifies it as "Early Spring Training in St. Pete, unknown year or location."
"In 1914, prominent St. Petersburger Al Lang allegedly paid all costs for the St. Louis Browns to come to his “Sunshine City,” including the expenses of Missouri reporters covering the team. When the Browns arrived, they discovered the first truly dedicated spring-training facility: the 4,000-seat Sunshine Park, which was packed to capacity for the Browns’ first game against the Cubs."
‒ Adam Ware from the Spring 2017 Edition of Reflections Magazine
The official name "Sunshine Park" never caught on and the field became known as "Coffee Pot Park."
The Browns would only stay for one spring due to a dispute with the city over who should pay for certain expenses. The Browns found a more favorable agreement in Houston TX and moved spring camp there.
At the time, Lang was already negotiating with another team and from 1915-18 the Philadelphia Phillies trained at Coffee Pot Park. In 1915, they won 11 of their first 12 regular season games and then won the National League pennant. In the hopes of replicating that success, other teams began relocating their preseason training to Florida.
Here is a picture of the real Coffee Pot Park as it appeared in the Philadelphia Ledger in 1915:
The obvious differences between the two images are the outfield fences and the infield cut-outs at each of the bases.
The St. Petersburg Times on December 28, 1913, described the new ballpark's grandstand as overlooking Coffee Pot Bayou which was a fourth of a mile away. This matches the photo from the Philadelphia Ledger.
Then there is this 1915 photo from the St. Petersburg Times which appears to be taken from near the location of the outfield fence. It looks identical to the area beyond the outfield in the Ledger picture.
It may not be clear from the grainy newspaper photo, but here is a vintage postcard showing Southland Seminary on the other side of Coffee Pot Bayou:
Today, Coffee Pot Bayou is not as wide as it was in 1914. In order to contain the bayou and expand their properties, developers built seawalls.
In 1914, the Browns sent groundskeepers to St. Petersburg to supervise the field's construction and ensure that it met professional standards. The infield in the first picture is not consistent with major league infields, the second picture from the Ledger - with cut-outs around first and second base - is.
Since the ballpark lay outside St. Pete city limits, it has been difficult to find a map showing its location and orientation. Based on the photo from the Ledger (above) and newspaper accounts, it's clear that the field was in the current Granada Terrace neighborhood and oriented as shown, with the third base line parallel to 1st St N. The entrance was at 1st St N and 22nd Av N. The area to the north and east of the park was undeveloped and considered part of the bayou at the time, an intertidal zone until seawalls were built.
In determining the park's location and orientation, I considered the following factors:
A map of the trolley system shows the ballpark stop on 21st Av N. (source: James Buckley, Street Railways of St. Petersburg, Florida, 1983)
An article in the Green Bench Monthly includes this photo. On the back was written "1st St N at Grenada Terrace."
An article in the St. Petersburg Times describes the extension of the trolley line to 21st Av N and 1st St N and explains there will be one block for the distribution of the crowd. That would put the entrance at 22nd Av N and 1st St N.
The following information was included in an article in the St. Petersburg Times on Dec 28, 1913:
- The lot measured 420x530 feet (one east-west block x two north-south blocks).
- The grandstand was built on the southwest corner of the lot.
- Spectators in the grandstand had a view of Coffee Pot Bayou, 1/4 mile in the distance.
During my research, I discovered some interesting details:
- In 1915, A.W. Tillinghast (who was designing the Jungle Country Club Golf Course at the time), was challenged to drive a golf ball from home plate over the left field fence. His drive landed in a stand of trees beyond the left field fence, probably the same trees that are behind the baseball writers in the picture above.
- In 1914, before the trolley line was extended, it was a 15-minute walk from the trolley terminus to the ballpark entrance. Many spectators preferred to take a boat from the downtown pier that landed closer to the entrance.
In 1919, Coffee Pot Park was torn down.
St. Petersburg Times, March 23, 1919.
The St. Louis Browns, first team to train in St. Pete, pose for a team picture:
Completed in 1914, the Browns and Phillies stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.
Training on the Country Club Links at Davista (Jungle Country Club) - March 5, 1916.
1919-1921
No major league team trained in St. Petersburg from 1919 through 1921. A Florida minor league that included the St. Petersburg Saints played some games at Coffee Pot Park in 1919, then moved to a makeshift Waterfront park in late 1919. Some exhibition games were played during these years at Moorefield Park on 7th Av and 5th St S. In 1920, the minor league Indianapolis Indians held a month-long spring camp at Moorefield Park. |
| St. Petersburg Times - March 20, 1920 |
After improvements were made at Waterfront Park in 1922, the Boston Braves began training in St. Pete.
