Bosse Field


Bosse Field is a baseball stadium located in Evansville, Indiana. Opened in 1915, it was the first municipally owned sports stadium in the United States and is the third-oldest ballpark still in regular use for professional baseball, surpassed only by Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago.
It is the home field for the professional minor league Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League, as well as high school and American Legion games, and in the past hosted spring training for the Detroit Tigers, college baseball, high school, college, and NFL football, college soccer, and concerts. Six Baseball Hall of Fame members played for Evansville teams at Bosse Field during their minor league careers, including Chuck Klein, Hank Greenberg, Warren Spahn, Bob Uecker, Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris. The historic stadium was also used in 1991 by Columbia Pictures for filming numerous game scenes in the 1992 comedy-drama, A League of Their Own.

History

, mayor of Evansville from 1914 to 1922, reached an agreement with Thomas Garvin's family shortly after taking office in January 1914 to purchase land on the north side of the city for a park. However, the city was in a deficit and could not afford the full $50,000 price. Mayor Bosse conceived of the plan to sell part of the land to the school board who would then build a new stadium to be used for school functions as well as Evansville's baseball team, of which Bosse was a co-owner. When the president of the school board opposed the plan, Bosse had him replaced with a friend, and the new school board both approved the project and also voted to name it Bosse Field in honor of the mayor. Construction was completed the following summer, and Bosse Field opened on June 17, 1915. A Central League record crowd of 8,082 fans attended the stadium dedication and opening game, a 4–0 Evansville victory. Evansville was in third place when they moved to Bosse Field, but went on to win the league championship in 1915.
Ten baseball teams other than the Otters have played at Bosse Field. Some of the most famous are the Evansville Triplets, Evansville Braves, Evas/Pocketeers/Hubs and the Evansville River Rats. The River Rats had played in Evansville previously from and. The Triplets won the American Association titles in 1972, 1975, and 1979. The River Rats won the Central League title in 1908 and 1915. The Braves won the Three-I League title in 1946, 1948, 1956, and 1957.
From 1921 to 1922, Bosse Field was used as a football stadium and was home to the Evansville Crimson Giants of the NFL.
The Otters franchise came to Evansville in 1995 and have attracted a record number of fans for the league. In 2006 the Otters won the Frontier League title.
Baseball Hall of Fame members Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein, Edd Roush, Warren Spahn, and Sam Thompson played at Bosse Field during their careers. There have been over 20 Major League Baseball players from Evansville and dozens of Minor Leaguers.

Former/current professional teams

Current / former professional teams who have called Bosse Field home, have won a combined 10 league titles.
TeamSportLeaguePlayedClassAffiliationChampionships
Evansville River RatsBaseballCentral League1915BCentral League Title 1915
Evansville EvasBaseballCentral League1916–1917B-
Evansville Black SoxBaseballThree-I League1919B-
Evansville EvasBaseballThree-I League1920–1923B-
Evansville Crimson GiantsFootballNational Football League1921–1922Major Professional-
Evansville Little EvasBaseballThree-I League1924B-
Evansville PocketeersBaseballThree-I League1925B-
Evansville HubsBaseballThree-I League1926–1931BDetroit Tigers, 1928–1931-
Evansville BeesBaseballThree-I League1938–1942BBoston Bees, 1938–1940
Boston Braves, 1940–1942		-
Evansville BravesBaseballThree-I League1946–1957BBoston Braves, 1946–1953
Milwaukee Braves, 1953–1957		Three-I League Title 1946, 1948, 1956, 1957
Evansville White SoxBaseballSouthern League1966–1968AAChicago White Sox-
Evansville TripletsBaseballAmerican Association1970–1984AAAMinnesota Twins, 1970
Milwaukee Brewers, 1971–1973
Detroit Tigers, 1974–1984		American Association Title 1972, 1975, 1979
Evansville OttersBaseballFrontier League1995–presentIndependentFrontier League Title 2006, 2016

Concerts