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Tampa's Original Field Of Dreams

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By BOB KERSTEIN, Special to the Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

Most Tampa residents are familiar with at least the distinctive minarets of the University of Tampa, originally the Tampa Bay Hotel opened by Henry B. Plant in 1891.

But they may not know the railroad tycoon did much more than build a hotel. He also offered a variety of activities for his guests. Some took place on property west of the building, designated as Plant Field years after his death in 1899.

For many decades afterward, Plant Field drew Tampa residents and visitors to see horse and car racing, baseball games and politicians.

Plant built a horse track on the grounds east of North Boulevard and south of Cass Street, now the site of the UT athletic fields. During the 1898-99 tourist season, races were sponsored by the Tampa Agricultural Racing and Fair Association.

'The true American of either sex is fond of horses, fond of that emulative strife which sends the noble animals coursing around the track for purses and honor,' a brochure noted. 'At Tampa Bay, the finest track in the world has been laid out, with ample accommodations, commodious stands and all the conveniences known to the best tracks.'

In February 1921, car races were added to the South Florida Fair. Plant Field would become a venue for dirt-track races sanctioned by the International Motor Contest Association. Until the mid-1970s, races were held each year during the South Florida Fair, which became the Florida State Fair after it was moved to Tampa from Jacksonville.

The country's most famous drivers raced there. Pete Folse, a local driver, became a national champion, and Frank Luptow, who became a Tampa resident, was an IMCA dirt-track champion.

Lakeland resident Lee Barfied worked with a pit crew during the races from 1947 to 1949. His primary recollection is 'how hazardous the racing was.'

During one of the first races Barfield attended, driver Harold Leaves was killed. Barfield recalled that about half of the drivers' bodies were outside of the car, their helmets only partially covered their heads and they wore only lap belts, not shoulder belts.

Many drivers resisted wearing the lap belts, reasoning that it was safer to be thrown from the car than caught in it in the event of an accident.

The Boys Of Spring

Baseball also had a long tradition at Plant Field. Local teams played at what was then called the Tampa Bay race track diamond as early as 1899.

The field was the spring home for a succession of major-league teams. The first was the Chicago Cubs in 1913. Lured by Mayor D.B. McKay and a booster's committee, the team was offered an incentive somewhat less than the norm today: $100 for each player and additional money to cover team expenses.

That first year, the Cubs played only the Havana Athletics, who included several members who had played college baseball. The Cubs won the first game, 4-2, on Feb. 26. They also won the next two games.

The next year, the Cubs returned for spring-training games against other major-league teams, and Plant Field served as their spring training home through 1916.

The Boston Red Sox brought major-league ball back to the field in 1919. It became home for the Washington Senators during the 1920s and the Detroit Tigers in 1930. The Cincinnati Reds played their home spring-training games there from the 1930s through 1954, and the Chicago White Sox took it in 1954.

The most noteworthy game took place April 4, 1919. Babe Ruth, playing in his last season for the Boston Red Sox, hit a home run 587 feet against the New York Giants during an exhibition game. It was considered the longest home run of his career.

Many other greats played at Plant Field, too. Walter Johnson pitched for the Senators and Ted Williams played with the Red Sox against the Reds.

In November 1950, the Jackie Robinson All-Stars played a local black semiprofessional team, the Tampa Rockets, at Plant Field. Robinson's team included major-leaguers Roy Campanella and Larry Doby as well as several Negro League players. At least four of the players on the Rockets still live in the area: Raydell Maddix, Benjamin 'Billy' Felder, Clifford 'Quack' Brown and Walter Gibbons

Grange Versus Thorpe

The baseball diamond sometimes became part of a football field. On New Year's Day 1926, the Chicago Bears, starring Red Grange, defeated a team featuring Jim Thorpe.

UT played its home games at Plant Field from 1933 to 1936 before moving to the new Phillips Field. Plant and Hillsborough high schools competed on Plant Field and played against each other in annual Thanksgiving games.

But it wasn't just sports that drew crowds. In November 1905, during the Florida State Fair, members of an important new club in town, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, paraded into Plant Field for the first time. It began a long tradition: The Gasparilla parade ended at the Plant Field grandstands until the fair moved to its present site east of Tampa in 1976.

In 1912, 'Buffalo Bill' Cody performed on the field with hundreds of Americans Indians who traveled with him as part of his show. Tampa hosted the national reunion of the United Confederate Veterans in 1927, and some of the veterans stayed in quarters under the Plant Field grandstands.

Presidential candidate Henry Wallace spoke at Plant Field in February 1948. Wallace insisted that the audience be integrated. This probably marked the first political speech in Tampa during which blacks and whites could mix. Paul Robeson sang at an integrated Wallace rally at Plant Field in October.

During the 1952 presidential campaign, Dwight D. Eisenhower appeared at Plant Field.

In 1971, the UT Board of Trustees approved the transaction that granted the university possession of Plant Field and the rest of the fairgrounds. The university built new sports facilities, and the name Plant Field faded into history.

Mickey Wells and Art Bagley, reference librarians at the University of Tampa, and Susan Carter, curator of UT's Henry B. Plant Museum, contributed to this report. Information from Tribune archives was used in this report. Robert Kerstein is the Hillsborou

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