Civic Stadium

Demolished

9/10

 

 

Approaching the park, the wooden facade with peeling paint lets you know what you're in for.

I wasn't as proficient at ballpark pics, but these two give you the general idea.

The long side of the L-shaped grandstand.

Back in 2009 for the last night game here ever against Salem-Keizer.

 We first attended Eugene's Civic Stadium in 2007 as part of a 3 game loop of the Northwest League, which was really our first ballparking trip. We had seen a game in Spokane the night previous and started off towards Yakima afterwards. I went again on the way home from my big 2009 loop for one last game, which turned out to be the 2nd last game and last night game for the Emeralds here. This drew over 5,000 people. Approaching, the park looks like something out of Bull Durham. A peeling wooden facade greets you on the way in.

The park is very simple, lots of wooden bench seating made up the bulk of this WPA era ballpark. There was nothing fancy or modern about this place, it was baseball, pure and simple. But, as much as I like wooden, WPA era bandbox style ballparks, there were some drawbacks about this park. 

 Firstly, food was difficult to buy here at best, there just weren't many concessions and the ones there were lined up quickly. Parking was almost non-existent, as the small parking lot was reflective of the time in which the stadium was built. The almost entirely wood construction made the park seem like a bit of a firetrap.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this park. It was absolutely a baseball-first atmosphere, as a wooden ballpark from 1940 was hardly a place to be seen. There was really nothing distracting from the game, with the possible exception of an overly talkative neighbour. This place is a time machine, 9/10.

The Emeralds moved across town to the University of Oregon campus to share a park with a newly formed Ducks varsity team. Locals wanted to preserve this one, which was on the National Register of Historic Places. The plan included purchasing the stadium and renovating it somewhat so it could host lower tier soccer. Funding to buy the stadium was raised in the summer of 2015 and it looked like the plan would go ahead.


But, what I alluded to earlier became a reality that same year. Several youths, playing with matches in the press box, managed to set a fire, which quickly spread out of control, and destroyed the stadium in about an hour. Throngs of people turned out to watch the local institution burn to the ground. The "Friends of Civic Stadium" are planning to use the money they raised towards something similar, but haven't decided what as of yet. It was disappointing to hear about their dream dying the way it did, but I'm interested to see what plans they come up with as an alternative.

Update 2018: I've added the linescores of the two games I went to here. I cannot find any more information about the plans for the stadium site, and the website for "Friends of Civic Stadium" now defaults to some random "sports" site. Under the new grading system, this place likely shouldn't have scored so high, but it's a moot point. Besides, I'd rather not take anything away from this gem. 

Linescores
2007-07-16
                                                    123  456  789  R H E
Vancouver Canadians(OAK)             023  020  012  10 16 0
Eugene Emeralds (SD)                    002  030  201  8  11  1
Temp: 79F Time: 3:48 Att: 2,987


2009-09-02
                                                         123  456  789  RHE
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (SF)               001   030  300  771
Eugene Emeralds (SD)                        100   000  022   593
Temp: 83F Time: 2:32  Att: 5,815 

Kingdome

Demolished

6/10

The good news is that I do have, buried somewhere, photos from inside the Kingdome. The bad news, is that I have little clue as to where they are. Such is the problem of printed photos.

This stadium was supposed to be built in time for the Seattle Pilots' first season. However, the Kansas City expansion team was eager to get into the league ASAP, to replace the Athletics franchise that had moved to Oakland, so Seattle's entry into the league was moved up, before the "King County Domed Stadium" could even be financed. So the Pilots played 1 season at the aging Sick's Stadium, before moving to Milwaukee. Still, it would not be long before 1977 saw the Mariners start up at the Kingdome.

We came here for the first time in 1996 to watch the Mariners and the Yankees under the dome. I was looking forward to watching former Blue Jay Jimmy Key, who then promptly left the game in the first inning after being hit with a comebacker. We saw the Mariners play the Red Sox the next year and that was it. I have only my 12 year old memory to go on, so here it is.

The area around where the dome was isn't a whole lot different than it is now. Some bars/pubs and Pioneer Square was close by. Seattle was a bit of a grittier city then, as the Microsoft boom hadn't come into full swing yet.

The dome itself was very dark. The wall in right field "Walla Walla" was about double height compared to the rest of the stadium. Ken Griffey Jr. can attest to the fact that this was a hitter's park to the extreme. I remember very little about coming here, other than the fact that the concourses would get very busy after games. Still, this was my 2nd MLB park ever and my last new one for about 6 years.

The Mariners were in a vulnerable spot again in the mid-90s, playing in an aging Kingdome, before Edgar Martinez's game winning hit in the division series against the Yankees all but guaranteed the construction of Safeco Field. The site of the former dome is now occupied by CenturyLink Field, home of the NFL Seahawks and MLS Sounders.

Update 2017: This place is still gone, but I did manage to locate the one linescore from here, the game against the Yankees where I remember Key being the starter. I don't remember the Boston games clearly, but I do remember them being at least the season after. They were likely in 1997, but maybe 1998 as well. I'll have to find a ticket stub or something to figure it out for sure.  

Linescores
1996-08-26
                            123  456  789   RHE
New York(AL)         000  000  100  150
Seattle                   000  100  010  290
Time: 2:59  Temp: 68F Att: 32,857