A Pictorial Guide
Nestled in the Southern end of the Tarpon Springs community is the little league complex. It sprung out of a gender gesture. The city recruited the St. Louis Browns back to Pinellas County in 1925. (The Browns, for their part, brought hall of famer George Sisler to town as the player/manager and football hall of famer Ernie Nevers to town in ’26 and ’27.) With the Yankees coming to St. Pete also in ’25 joining the Braves there and the Brooklyn Robins training in Clearwater, Pinellas County alone hosted four teams in the spring. Remember, when the Browns came to St. Pete in 1914, there were only four major league teams in the state!
Like the Yankees at Crescent Lake in St. Petersburg, both fields required dredge and fill procedures to raise the field to a level that would be less likely to flood from overflow from nearby lakes. One Sr. Louis reporter ventured out behind the right field fence, He found a swampy scrub filled terrain with an excellent chance of spotting a gator or at least a snake. Tarpon Springs had a nine-hole golf course built on the hilly area just above it. By the time the Browns after ’27 the spring season the area behind the fence had been dredged and turned into a flat back nine.
On opening day, March 12, 1925, the field was dedicated. Brooklyn had come up from Clearwater to oppose the optimistic Browns. At the pre-game dedication ceremony the city officially named the ball park Sisler Field. While the Browns only stayed from ;25 – 27 the park housed three minor league teams in the ‘30’s. Toronto in ’30 and Newark in ’32 both competed in the International League. Two American Association teams trained here at the end of the decade. In’ 38, Rochester and ’39 Saint Paul made Tarpon their spring home.
The field today functions as the Tarpon Springs Little League Complex. I saw an article once (and not since!) that claims the concession stand was the original ticket booth and this is where the Sisler plaque now hangs. I was a bit skeptical about that claim for a couple of reasons. First, the current concession stand windows face the field which means one would enter the park prior to buying a ticket. Second, using cinder block construction wasn’t typical of the area and wasn’t used to build the stands or the fences.
If you look to the right of the grandstand, you’ll see a small building with an open space. The orientation of the field and the building align with today’s layout. While the grandstand is definitely wood, the building does have a cinder block construction look.
While a muralist did a great job of painting all but this side of the building, it hid some clues of how this might be true. So, on the second trip, I looked beyond the paint.
This photo represents the original mural on the restroom side.
This is the side facing the street, a more likely ticket window.
This is the East side wall closest to the street side window. More ticket windows or early concession?
This is Field 1, named Sisler Field, the likely footprint of the original stadium.
It is unknown to me at this time when the original stadium came down. While possible it is hard to be sure that the concession building is at least partly the original although it could have been built during the minor league season in the ‘30’s. In any case there were once major leaguers playing here.