Miller Field

Miller Field was a professional baseball park in Owensboro, Kentucky, that stood at Eighteenth and Triplett streets from 1937 until 1955. Raised in less than a month by a crew working day and night, financed in a single afternoon by a room full of businessmen, it drew the largest baseball crowds the city had ever seen during its eighteen-year existence. In 1955, a wrecking crew swarmed over its stands, and the stadium was gradually dismantled.

A Dinner and a Deadline

In the spring of 1937, the immediate future of baseball in Owensboro was uncertain. The city held a franchise in the Kitty League, but those interested in the national pastime had nothing on which to operate, as plans for a city-owned park had fallen through. At this stage, as it appeared the franchise would be removed from the city, Hugh Wise — part owner of the franchise and manager of the Owensboro team the previous year — interested Julius C. Miller, an Owensboro oil operator and baseball booster, in the game.

On April 9, 1937, Miller hosted a gathering of leading Owensboro citizens at the Hotel Owensboro to discuss the beginning of a ball park for the city. Accounts of that meeting varied in their particulars: a contemporary report described a dinner for several of Miller's friends, at which the group had raised nearly $18,000 by 6 o'clock, while a later account described a luncheon for about 30 leading citizens who had raised $16,000 by 7 o'clock that night. The essential facts were not in dispute. Miller outlined his plans, and at first the majority of those present doubted the possibility of successfully carrying out the program presented. Miller persuaded them that it could be done, and at 2 p.m. they started soliciting money with instructions to report back that evening. To the surprise of nearly everyone except Miller, the money was in hand by the time they reconvened.

The following day the Owensboro Recreation Corporation was formed with Miller as president. Funds were augmented and a part of the plan assured as six acres of land were leased at Eighteenth and Triplett streets. Two days after the meeting, on Monday, work started on the new park.

Twenty-Six Days of Grading

The land was rolling and required considerable grading, and few Owensboroans thought the park would be in shape for the opening game, which was then less than a month away. Approximately 7,500 yards of dirt were removed from the site of the outfield, and five and one-half feet of dirt were built up where home plate would rest. The steel framework of the grandstand was purchased from a tobacco house being dismantled at Lewisport.

Crews of men worked day and night under the personal direction of Wise, who labored an average of sixteen hours a day until two weeks after the opening game was played. Rains were frequent throughout the period, and obstacles appeared, but they were successfully overcome. For three weeks before the opening of the season, Wise divided his attention between training the ball club and getting the park in shape.

The original schedule had called for the opening game to be played at Owensboro, but it was shifted to Hopkinsville. The first game in the new park was played on May 20, 1937 — twenty-six days after workmen broke ground — and the field was in good condition considering the time available. The occasion was marked by a half-holiday for Owensboro and a great celebration. The opening day program was carried out under the auspices of Mayor Harry C. Smith, John M. Nelson, Reid Brodie, Arch Bamburger, L. D. Gasser, Harry W. Bottorf and O. C. Peavy. More than 3,000 fans attended.

From ORC Field to Miller Field

The park was originally named ORC Field, the name derived from the initials of the Owensboro Recreation Corporation. Owensboro's first season of baseball in the new park was a success, and the Oilers and manager Hugh Wise were honored with "Hugh Wise Night" as an end-of-season gesture of appreciation. At a Labor Day banquet given in Miller's honor by a number of leading Owensboro businessmen, the name of the park was changed to Miller Field in recognition of his service to baseball in the city.

Immediately following the end of the regular playing season, an improvement program was started at the field, with Wise and Miller giving it their attention and working as hard as any of the laborers. Miller served as president of the Owensboro Recreation Corporation without pay and spent a considerable amount of his own money to give Owensboro a park in which it could take pride. He refused to accept a president's pass, paying his way in to every game.

A Birthday Present: The Giants and the Indians

For a birthday present to the ball fans of Owensboro, the Recreation Corporation secured a major league exhibition game between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians, scheduled for Tuesday, April 12, 1938 — exactly one year from the day work was started on the park. It was to be the first major league exhibition held in Owensboro in twenty years.

Preparations continued despite brisk weather and snow early on the Saturday before the game. New seats for the boxes arrived and were installed, with workmen kept busy until a late hour Saturday night and returning early the next morning to finish the job. Leased wires were installed in the press box for the use of visiting newsmen, as reporters from New York and Cleveland planned to send play-by-play descriptions to their papers.

Demand for tickets far exceeded supply. The business office at Miller Field was a busy place that Saturday as fans rushed to collect tickets reserved earlier by phone; any not called for were to be placed on sale Monday morning, and there were already ten requests for every such ticket. Business manager Perk Purnhage said he could have sold at least twice as many box seats as were available, plus another 500 grandstand seats. Bleacher tickets remained plentiful, and the local management was anxious to sell as many in advance as possible in order to determine whether to add additional bleachers; if orders continued to pour in, new seats were to be erected in the outfield to accommodate at least 1,500 more.

Owensboro played host to fans from four states. Orders came from Illinois, from as far north as Indianapolis, south to Tennessee, and from all parts of Kentucky. A crowd of more than 5,000 was expected to pack the park. The gates were to open at 12:30 p.m., with the game called at 2:30 p.m., and bleacher tickets were not to be sold on the day of the game before 12:30.

The two clubs were to arrive on a special train from Paducah about noon Tuesday, making their headquarters at the Hotel Owensboro and departing at 10 p.m. that night. Eleven newspapermen were among the traveling party of seventy-five. Officials of the Owensboro Recreation Corporation went about with their fingers crossed, hoping for good weather; in the event bad weather forced cancellation, ticket money was to be refunded.

The pitching matchup remained a question. Bob Feller or Johnny Allen was expected to work for the Indians, with Carl Hubbell, the star left-hander, or Cliff "Mountain Music" Melton tossing them over for the New Yorkers. Although nothing definite had been learned of the lineups, the following players were listed as likely to start or see service:

• New York — Moore, lf; Bartell, ss; Ripple, rf; Ott, 3b; Leiber, cf; McCarthy, 1b; Chiozza, 2b; Danning or Mancuso, c.
• Cleveland — Lary, ss; Weatherly, lf; Campbell, rf; Keltner, 3b; Averill, cf; Trosky, 1b; Irwin, 2b; Pytlak or Hemsley, c.

The umpires were Claud Tobin of the National League and Gerald Kolls of the American League.

The game was played as scheduled on April 12, 1938. The Cleveland Indians defeated the New York Giants before a crowd of 5,000 — at that time the largest crowd ever to attend a baseball game in Owensboro.

The Peak Years and the War

That record did not stand long. In 1939, almost 6,000 fans gathered at Miller Field, then considered the outstanding park in Class D baseball. It was the largest crowd ever to attend a Class D game. Baseball continued to thrive in Owensboro until World War II caused Miller Field to close.

The Postwar Seasons

After the war, Harry "Lefty" Jenkins, an Owensboro boy then with the Boston Nationals, secured the backing of his club for the Oilers. That year, 1946, became the first in which Owensboro won a pennant, and the team repeated in 1947. Oilers manager Earl Brown won the minor league batting championship in 1946 with a .425 average and topped the Kitty League in 1947 with a .412 average. The year 1948 was another good baseball year for Owensboro, and in 1949 Bill Adair won another pennant for the Oilers.

Men who went on to become big league stars played at Miller Field, among them two who were later represented in baseball's Hall of Fame: Wally Schang and Travis Jackson.

The Wrecking Crew

Baseball in Owensboro went on the downgrade after 1950. In 1955, the once-proud park that had been financed in an afternoon and built in twenty-six days was sold, and members of a wrecking crew began taking down the stands. With the razing of the stadium, the future of the game in Owensboro was left very much in question.