Frank O'Grady Stadium

Basepath Larceny · 04-10-2003, 02:13 AM

Starting out as just a ballboy in the organization, Frank O'Grady poured his heart into the Brooklyn franchise and slowly rose in the organization over the years. He would eventually become team owner, and watch his beloved team win 4 ABL Championships from 1946-1974. In 1973, as much as he would have loved to keep the stadium that held so many memories for him over the years, he realized his franchise needed a newer facility.

Construction began in the fall of 1973, and was scheduled to be finished during the middle of the 1975 season. The 1974 season between the start and proposed finish of the stadium brought the Bombers many things. The Bombers won their first ABL Championship in 14 years, but still, no Bomber player or fan celebrated that offseason. Frank O'Grady, at the age of 69, died in his sleep.

The organization could think of no better tribute than to open the 1975 season following his death with a new baseball stadium that bore the name of the man who gave so much of his life to the Bombers. The remaining construction timetable was accelerated to get everything done by the open of the season. However, they ran into a bit of a snag. The front office had been spending so much money to field the finest players that it could, that there was not enough money to finish the field as it was originally designed. The team ended up having to build the upper deck in right field out of a combination of older materials and pieces of the old stadium. Construction ran so close to opening day, that they never had a chance to repaint it to match the rest of the field, thus it's darker green color. Fan's loved telling the story about why it was a different color so much, that the team never bothered repainting it.

Frank O'Grady Stadium opened to the public on April 14, 1975. It's unique design, coupled with the close proximity of most of the seats to the field, drew sellouts to the park every single game. Seating 44,575 fans, the FOG as it is known today is the premiere park in the ABL.

You can learn more about the American Baseball League that hosts this beautiful stadium at http://www.thepostgameport.net

You can download this for your personal use from:
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~drc/thefog.bmp.

Cuss16 · 04-10-2003, 03:51 AM

nice!!

Psicosis · 04-10-2003, 05:09 AM

Wow. Nice work.

jarget · 04-10-2003, 11:00 AM

Awesome

04-10-2003, 02:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
Basepath Larceny Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0x in 0 posts	Frank O'Grady Stadium Starting out as just a ballboy in the organization, Frank O'Grady poured his heart into the Brooklyn franchise and slowly rose in the organization over the years. He would eventually become team owner, and watch his beloved team win 4 ABL Championships from 1946-1974. In 1973, as much as he would have loved to keep the stadium that held so many memories for him over the years, he realized his franchise needed a newer facility. Construction began in the fall of 1973, and was scheduled to be finished during the middle of the 1975 season. The 1974 season between the start and proposed finish of the stadium brought the Bombers many things. The Bombers won their first ABL Championship in 14 years, but still, no Bomber player or fan celebrated that offseason. Frank O'Grady, at the age of 69, died in his sleep. The organization could think of no better tribute than to open the 1975 season following his death with a new baseball stadium that bore the name of the man who gave so much of his life to the Bombers. The remaining construction timetable was accelerated to get everything done by the open of the season. However, they ran into a bit of a snag. The front office had been spending so much money to field the finest players that it could, that there was not enough money to finish the field as it was originally designed. The team ended up having to build the upper deck in right field out of a combination of older materials and pieces of the old stadium. Construction ran so close to opening day, that they never had a chance to repaint it to match the rest of the field, thus it's darker green color. Fan's loved telling the story about why it was a different color so much, that the team never bothered repainting it. Frank O'Grady Stadium opened to the public on April 14, 1975. It's unique design, coupled with the close proximity of most of the seats to the field, drew sellouts to the park every single game. Seating 44,575 fans, the FOG as it is known today is the premiere park in the ABL. You can learn more about the American Baseball League that hosts this beautiful stadium at http://www.thepostgameport.net You can download this for your personal use from: http://www.arches.uga.edu/~drc/thefog.bmp.

04-10-2003, 03:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
Cuss16 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: BC, CANADA Posts: 2,994 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0x in 0 posts	nice!! __________________

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04-10-2003, 05:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
Psicosis Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 229 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0x in 0 posts	Wow. Nice work.

04-10-2003, 11:00 AM	#4 (permalink)
jarget Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: East Side - San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 85 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0x in 0 posts	Awesome