In Right Field at Tiger Stadium, You Had to Watch Your Head

One of the many quirks of this cherished ballpark was a right field with a bit of a roof.

by Rich Watson

We left-handers have a hard time making it in a world oriented for right-handers. Fortunately baseball has tried to give us a break by building ballparks with shallow right fields. The original Yankee Stadium skewed dramatically inward on the right side to accommodate Babe Ruth, though given the rate he hit home runs, he didn’t need the help.

Detroit’s Tiger Stadium was 325 feet from home plate; left field was 340 feet. What made it peculiar, though, had less to do with its horizontal view and more to do with its vertical one.

Comiskey Park’s Exploding Scoreboard Was a Spectacle Like No Other in Baseball

One of the showcases of this Chicago ballpark was a  scoreboard that put on a show of its own whenever the White Sox homered.

by Rich Watson

In 1948, James Cagney made a movie called The Time of Your Life, about the customers of a saloon. Cagney’s character played a pinball machine. At one point, he hit the jackpot and the game lit up, making all kinds of noise.

Bill Veeck saw the film. He was one of baseball’s great raconteurs and iconoclasts during his four decades as an owner for three different teams, including the White Sox. He looked for innovative ways to sell the game, from night baseball to integration to wacky fan promotions and more.

Seeing Cagney with his pinball machine inspired Veeck to commission the creation of something that would enliven the experience of coming to Chicago’s Comiskey Park.