Dr. J. L. Moorefield and Moorefield Ballpark, 1920

Doc Moorefield became St. Pete’s Mr. Baseball for 1920

Part 1

Who is Dr. J. L. Moorefield? Is he a scoundrel? A philanthropist? A businessman trying to make it anyway he can? The man who perhaps saved St. Petersburg, Fla’s., aspirations to be a home for spring training baseball? I’ll leave those judgements up to you, the reader. I found no true biography of Moorefield, only snippets in newspapers primarily in Florida and North Carolina.

From newspaper accounts, Moorefield lived a colorful life. A native of Guilford County (Greensboro), N.C., Moorefield was one of ten children.  He did his undergrad work at the University of North Carolina and his medical degree from the University of Maryland. Specializing as an ENT, Moorefield moved around North Carolina and Virginia with his practice, sometimes escaping trouble. He ran a drug store near his childhood home in Pomona, N.C. where he was convicted of retailing whiskey in 1913. He also had an altercation with a man who testified against him in a case. By July of that same year, he was advertising his practice in High Point, NC. In 1917, he was shot twice, once in the abdomen and the other in the left hand at the Mt. Airy post office. That apparently occurred after he made disparaging remarks about the other man’s wife. It appears he took up winter residence in St. Pete as early as 1911 prior to moving here full-time and setting up a practice at the beginning of 1919.

This is also a story of the state of baseball in St. Pete in 1920. Spring training first arrived in St. Petersburg in 1914 through the efforts of Albert (Al) Lang, “St. Petersburg’s Mr. Baseball.”

Originally a Pittsburgh, Penn., businessman, Lang relocated to St. Pete for health reasons.  In St. Petersburg, he begins speculating in real estate and becomes heavily involved in the community.  Since that first training in 1914, Major League baseball has had teams training here for 94 years with nine franchises calling St. Pete home over those years. From 1925 to 1987, the city had an unprecedented run of two teams per spring for 60 seasons, excluding the war years. 

The St. Louis Browns and the Philadelphia Phillies trained in St. Petersburg from 1914 to 1918, ending because of World War I.  

1919 sees Dr. J. L. Moorefield enter the St. Pete baseball scene as manager of the Saints, whose name had been resurrected from prior seasons in St. Pete. Moorefield moves the Saints from a semi-pro to a professional franchise operating independently in ‘19.

The Saints begin the season at the then becoming dilapidated Coffee Pot Ballpark in North St. Petersburg. Moorefield says if the game draws a good crowd, he will continue to hold games there until a new, close-in ballpark is built. Distance from the center of town had been suggested as a cause of the decline in attendance in earlier spring training years. In early July, Moorefield resigned as field manager although he was still in control of the team. He then gets permission to move games to the Waterfront Field that had been cobbled together by the military, so they didn’t have to travel out to Coffee Pot. Circus benches are moved from nearby Williams Park for spectators. The field was insufficient, tucked in between Central Ave. and the Yacht Club to the north and the railroad running down 1^st Ave. On the South side, the field was allotted a short city block. Not only was the field too short in dimensions for professional play, even in the Dead-ball era. The Waterfront Park lacked any room for amenities such as locker rooms, dugouts and permanent grandstands.

In August, Mayor Lang puts out a call for a citizen to step up to donate land and build a ballpark for all the city’s needs. Lang declares he will name the field after the man that does so.  Moorefield is on the Speed Club committee to scout out a ballpark location.  It appears that Lang and Moorefield at this point are on friendly terms. In late December 1919, Moorefield, having entered a team in the West Coast Winter Baseball League employing primarily players from the professional ranks, leases a lot for one year. A couple of players from each team have major league experience. Most, including Moorefield’s brother George, were active minor leaguers. Moorefield promises to have a ballfield assembled in ten days’ time. Moorefield volunteers to pay the lease, buy and have lumber shipped to the property. He asks that community members step up, pay to have clay put in the infield and pay for the labor to build the fence and the stands.