Cleveland Stadium

Cleveland Stadium
Lakefront Stadium; Municipal Stadium
	Final baseball season, September 1993
Location	1085 West 3rd Street; Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Owner	City of Cleveland
Operator	Cleveland Stadium Corporation
Capacity	Baseball: 74,438 (1993); originally 78,000 (1932); Football: 81,000 (1995)
Field size	Left Field – 322 ft (98 m); Left-Center – 385 ft (117 m); Center Field – 400 ft (122 m); Right-Center – 385 ft (117 m); Right Field – 322 ft (98 m); Backstop – 60 ft (18 m)
	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Coordinates	41°30′24″N 81°41′50″W / 41.50667°N 81.69722°W
NRHP reference No.	87002287
Added to NRHP	November 13, 1987
Surface	Natural grass
Construction
Broke ground	June 24, 1930
Opened	July 1, 1931
Renovated	1947 (inner fence installed); 1967 (new seats); 1974 (new scoreboard, suites)
Closed	December 17, 1995
Demolished	November 4, 1996
Construction cost	US$3,000,000; ($60.1 million in 2023 dollars)
Architect	Walker & Weeks; Osborn Engineering Company
General contractor	Biltmore Construction
Tenants
	Cleveland Indians (MLB) (1932–1933, 1937*–1993); Cleveland Browns (AAFC/NFL) (1946–1995); Cleveland Rams (AFL/NFL) (1936–1937, 1939–1941); Cleveland Indians (NFL) (1931); Western Reserve Red Cats (NCAA) (1933); John Carroll Blue Streaks (NCAA) (1933–1942, 1946–1951); Cleveland Stokers (NASL) (1967–1968); Great Lakes Bowl (NCAA) (1947); Weekend, holiday, and night games from 1937 to 1946

Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium or Lakefront Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football. The stadium opened in 1931 and is best known as the long-time home of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball, from 1932 to 1993, and the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), from 1946 to 1995, in addition to hosting other teams, sports, and being a regular concert venue. The stadium was a four-time host of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, one of the host venues of the 1948 and 1954 World Series, and the site of the original Dawg Pound, Red Right 88, and The Drive.

Through most of its tenure as a baseball facility, the stadium was the largest in Major League Baseball by seating capacity, seating over 78,000 initially and over 74,000 in its final years. It was superseded only by the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 1958 to 1961, while it was the temporary home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and by Mile High Stadium in 1993, the temporary home of the expansion Colorado Rockies. For football, the stadium seated approximately 80,000 people, ranking as one of the larger seating capacities in the NFL.

Former Browns owner Art Modell took over control of the stadium from the city in the 1970s and while his organization made improvements to the facility, it continued to decline. The Indians played their final game at the stadium in October 1993 and moved to Jacobs Field the following season. Although plans were announced to renovate the stadium for use by the Browns, in 1995 Modell announced his intentions to move the team to Baltimore citing the state of Cleveland Stadium as a major factor. The Browns played their final game at the stadium in December 1995. As part of an agreement between Modell, the city of Cleveland, and the NFL, the Browns were officially deactivated for three seasons and the city was required to construct a new stadium on the Cleveland Stadium site. Cleveland Stadium was demolished in 1996 to make way for FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999. Much of the debris from the demolition was placed in Lake Erie to create an artificial reef.

History

The impetus for Cleveland Municipal Stadium came from city manager William R. Hopkins, Cleveland Indians' president Ernest Barnard, real estate magnate and future Indians' president Alva Bradley, and the Van Sweringen brothers, who thought that the attraction of a stadium would benefit area commerce in general and their own commercial interests in downtown Cleveland in particular.^[4] However, some have incorrectly stated that it was built in a failed bid to attract the 1932 Summer Olympics, which had been awarded to Los Angeles in 1923,^[5] long before ground was broken on the stadium.^[6] Another common misconception is that Cleveland Municipal Stadium was a Works Progress Administration project; in fact, the WPA was not created until 1935, four years after the stadium was built.^[7]

In November 1928, Cleveland voters passed by 112,448 to 76,975, a 59% passage rate, with 55% needed to pass, "a US$2.5 million levy for a fireproof stadium on the Lakefront." Actual construction costs overran that amount by $500,000.^[8]

Construction

Built during the administrations of city managers William R. Hopkins and Daniel E. Morgan, it was designed by the architectural firms of Walker and Weeks and by Osborn Engineering Company. It featured an early use of structural aluminum. The stadium was dedicated on July 1, 1931. On July 3, 1931, it hosted a boxing match for the National Boxing Association World Heavyweight Championship between Max Schmeling and Young Stribling, with 37,000 fans in attendance. Schmeling retained his title by a technical knockout victory in the 15th round.

The Donald Gray Gardens were installed on the stadium's north side in 1936 as part of the Great Lakes Exposition.^[9] They remained until the construction of Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Seating capacity

Baseball
Years	Capacity
1932–1949	78,811
1950–1966	73,811
1967–1968	74,056
1969–1975	76,966
1976–1980	76,713
1981	76,685
1982–1988	74,208
1989–1993	74,483

Football
Years	Capacity
1932–1946	83,000^[10]
1947	77,563^[10]
1948–1951	77,707^[10]
1952–1961	78,207^[10]
1962–1964	78,166^[10]
1965	77,096^[10]
1966	77,124^[10]
1967–1974	79,282^[10]
1975–1976	80,165^[10]
1977	80,233^[10]
1975–1980	80,385^[10]
1981–1982	80,322^[10]
1983–1991	80,098^[10]
1992–1995	78,512^[11]

Cleveland Municipal Stadium under construction in 1931

Tenants

Indians

The stadium was built for football as well as for the Cleveland Indians, who played their first game there on July 31, 1932, losing to the Philadelphia Athletics' great pitcher Lefty Grove 1-0 while attracting a then-major-league-record crowd of 80,184.^[12] The Indians played all of their games at the stadium from the middle of the 1932 season through 1933. However, the players and fans complained about the huge outfield, which reduced the number of home runs. Moreover, as the Great Depression worsened, attendance plummeted.^[13] The Indians returned to their smaller previous home, League Park, for all of the 1934 and 1935 seasons.

The Indians used the stadium to host the 1935 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and returned to the stadium in 1936 to host the New York Yankees on August 2 as part of the Great Lakes Exposition, drawing a crowd of 65,342. In 1937, the Indians began playing Sunday and holiday games at Cleveland Stadium during the summer, adding selected important games there in 1938. League Park lacked field lighting, so the emergence of night baseball in the 1930s led to the addition of night games to the schedule after lights were installed at the stadium in 1939. By 1940, the Indians played most of their home slate at the stadium, abandoning League Park entirely after the 1946 season. They remained at Cleveland Stadium until the end of the 1993 season, after which they moved to Jacobs Field.^[14]

View of center field in 1993. Lake Erie can be seen just outside the stadium. Visible beyond the outfield wall is a portion of the original (larger) outfield area.

The stadium foreshadowed problems that would emerge 40 years later when cookie-cutter stadiums were in vogue. Due to the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of baseball and football fields, the baseball sight lines generally left much to be desired. The original baseball playing field was so large that an inner fence was constructed in 1947 to cut down the size of the spacious outfield. Even after it was put in, the distance markers on the bleacher walls remained visible for many years; it was 470 feet from home plate to the bleachers in straightaway center field. No player ever hit a home run into the center field bleachers. According to his autobiography, Veeck – As in Wreck, Indians owner Bill Veeck would move the fence in or out, varying by as much as 15 feet, depending on how it would favor the Indians, a practice that ended when the American League specifically legislated against moving fences during the course of a given season.

Like some other facilities built before warning tracks became standard, the stadium had an earthen berm in front of the center field wall. After the inner fence was installed, the berm was still visible during football season.

The facility, located just south of Lake Erie, was known for the biting cold winds that would blow into the stadium in winter, as well as during much of the spring and fall. Because of its proximity to the lake during hot summer nights, its lights attracted swarms of midges and mayflies. Game 2 of the 2007 American League Division Series at Jacobs Field on October 5, 2007, brought back memories of the old stadium, when swarms of midges (misidentified by the television announcers as mayflies) infested the field, particularly the pitcher's mound.

The Indians set three Major League attendance records during the 1948 season, when they won the American League pennant and World Series behind pitcher Bob Feller and shortstop/player-manager Lou Boudreau. That season, Cleveland had the highest single season attendance, 2,620,627, which was not eclipsed until 1962 by the Los Angeles Dodgers,^[15] largest regular season night game attendance of 72,434 for the first major league start of Satchel Paige,^[16] and biggest World Series game attendance of 86,288 for game 5 on October 10, 1948.^[17] However, during the Indians' lean years from the 1960s through the 1990s, they rarely attracted more than 30,000 people, and even crowds of 40,000 looked sparse in the cavernous environment. After the Indians were eliminated from the pennant race in 1949, as a black humor-themed stunt they held a mock funeral procession on the field and buried their 1948 pennant behind the center field fence.^[18] Due to the large size of the facility, the Indians began using a bullpen car in 1950.^[19]

In addition to the 1935 MLB All-Star Game, Cleveland Stadium also hosted three additional all-star games: 1954, 1963, and 1981. Cleveland Stadium and Yankee Stadium are the only venues to host four MLB all-star games. On May 15, 1981, Len Barker threw a perfect game at the stadium, the second in franchise history and eighth in modern Major League history. The final Indians home game at Cleveland Stadium was held October 3, 1993, a 4–0 loss to the Chicago White Sox in front of 72,390 fans. During the game, fans, led by comedian Bob Hope, who grew up an Indians fan and was once a part-owner, sang a version of his signature song "Thanks for the Memory" with special lyrics for the occasion.^[20]

Browns

The Cleveland Browns, originally members of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), began playing at the facility in 1946, and played there through 1995. The stadium was the site of the AAFC Championship game in 1946, 1948 and 1949, all Browns wins. The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and hosted the NFL Championship Game in 1950, 1952, 1954, 1964, and 1968, winning titles in 1950, 1954, and 1964.

The first Browns game at the stadium was also the first AAFC game, when the Browns hosted the Miami Seahawks on September 6, 1946. The Browns won the game 44–0 and drew 60,135 fans, what was then a record for a professional football crowd. During the 1980s, the center field bleachers at the east end of the stadium were home to many of the club's most avid fans and became known as the Dawg Pound after the barks that fans made to disrupt opposing teams' offensive plays. The fans were copying Browns players Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield, who frequently appeared to bark to each other and to the opposition. Some of the fans even wore dog masks and threw dog biscuits at opposing players. The Dawg Pound was included in the design of FirstEnergy Stadium, where the east end zone also has bleacher seating.

The stadium was also the site of two notable moments in Cleveland sports and Browns history. In a 1981 divisional playoff game on January 4, Browns quarterback Brian Sipe was intercepted in the end zone with less than a minute remaining in the game, resulting in a 14–12 loss to the Oakland Raiders. The game has since been referred to by the name of the pass play, Red Right 88. Six years later, during the 1987 AFC Championship game on January 11, John Elway led the Denver Broncos on what is referred to as The Drive, a 98-yard touchdown drive with 5:32 left that tied the game and sent it into overtime. The Broncos ultimately prevailed 23–20.

The final game in the stadium was held December 17, 1995, an emotional 26–10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Browns' final game before the franchise was officially deactivated until 1999, though the team actually moved to Baltimore and continued to play as the Ravens. At the end of that game, many fans cut and removed their seats.^[21]

Football Indians and Rams

Prior to the arrival of the Browns, the stadium was briefly the home field for two other NFL teams, the Cleveland Indians in 1931, and the Cleveland Rams from 1936 to 1937 and again from 1939 to 1941. The football Indians played two home games in their 1931 season, a 6-0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers and a 14-0 loss to the Chicago Cardinals.^[22] The team drew a crowd of around only 2,000 spectators for the September 26th game against Brooklyn and 10,000 for the loss to the Cardinals on November 8.^[23]^[24]

The Rams were founded in 1936 as members of the second American Football League and joined the NFL in 1937. They played home games at the stadium their first two seasons, before moving to the smaller Shaw Stadium in 1938. The Rams returned to the stadium in 1939 and played home games there through the 1941 season before moving to League Park for the remainder of their time in Cleveland. The team returned to the stadium one last time to host the 1945 NFL Championship Game, a 15–14 win in what was the final Rams game in Cleveland before the team relocated to Los Angeles.

Records and milestones

July 1, 1931 – Dedication
July 3, 1931 – Opening event: World Heavyweight Championship boxing match between Max Schmeling and Young Stribling, with 37,000 fans in attendance.
July 31, 1932 – First Cleveland Indians game, vs. Philadelphia Athletics (loss, 1-0); pitched by Mel Harder^[25]
December 16, 1945 – The Cleveland Rams defeated the Washington Redskins 15-14, to win the NFL championship. Twenty-seven days later the Rams moved to Los Angeles.
December 24, 1950 – The Browns defeat the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the 1950 NFL Championship Game.
December 28, 1952 – The Detroit Lions defeat the Browns 17-7 in the 1952 NFL Championship Game.
September 12, 1954 – A league record 84,587 people attended a Yankees-Indians game.
December 26, 1954 - The Browns defeat the Lions 56-10 in the 1954 NFL Championship Game.
April 19, 1960 – The Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians played 15 innings on Opening Day, tying the record for the longest Opening-Day game.
June 17, 1960 – Ted Williams hits his 500th career home run.
December 27, 1964 – The Browns defeat the Baltimore Colts 27-0 in the 1964 NFL Championship Game.
August 14, 1966 – The Beatles perform at the stadium.
June 21, 1970 – Detroit's César Gutiérrez got seven hits in seven at bats in 12 innings.
June 4, 1974 – Ten Cent Beer Night: The Indians host the Texas Rangers while promoting unlimited beer for $.10/cup for the fans in order to attract fans to the stadium. Due to the rowdiness of the intoxicated fans, the Indians were forced to forfeit the game.
April 8, 1975 - MLB First Black Manager: Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson made his debut as the first black manager in the history of Major League Baseball. Robinson, in the latter stages of his career, had been acquired as a player in the last month of the previous season. He served that Opening Day as a player-manager, hitting a home run to add to the historic day, helping lead the Indians to a 5-3 win over the Yankees before over 56,000 fans.
June 25, 1977 – 83,199 people attend a concert by the British rock group Pink Floyd.
January 4, 1981 – The Browns lost their divisional playoff game against the Oakland Raiders when an interception occurred during a play called Red Right 88. The Browns only needed a field goal to take the lead but had an ailing kicker.
May 15, 1981 – Len Barker's perfect game: Len Barker pitched the tenth perfect game in baseball history
August 21, 1986 – Boston's Spike Owen tied a Major League record by scoring six runs
January 11, 1987 – The Drive: In one of Cleveland's many sports disappointments, John Elway leads the Denver Broncos 98 yards down the field for the tying score late in the AFC Championship Game. Denver wins in overtime, 23-20, earning the right to play in Super Bowl XXI
October 3, 1993 – Last Cleveland Indians game, vs. Chicago White Sox (loss, 4-0)
December 17, 1995 – Last Cleveland Browns game, vs. Cincinnati Bengals (win, 26–10)
December 3, 1996 – Stadium catches fire during demolition
March 1, 1997 – Demolition Ends

Other events

College football

The only Great Lakes Bowl was held there in 1947.

The stadium hosted the annual Notre Dame/Navy college football game 11 times: in 1932, 1934, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1976 and 1978. The games were well attended, with an average attendance of 69,730 and a high of 84,090 fans for the 1947 game, which was won by Notre Dame 27-0.

Local college teams, including Western Reserve Red Cats, Case Tech Rough Riders, John Carroll Blue Streaks,^[26] and Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets often used the stadium for home games and local matchups, especially during the 1930s and 1940s when the city Big Four Conference was strong.^[27] Of the 60 all-time Big Four matchups, 22 were played at Cleveland Stadium, the most of any venue.^[28]

The Illinois Fighting Illini played the Penn State Nittany Lions there in 1959. The Ohio State Buckeyes played in the stadium four times, the first three as the home team during World War II. The first was in a 1942 win over Illinois before 68,656, the second a 1943 loss to Purdue, and the third a 1944 victory over Illinois. The final college football contest played there was on October 19, 1991, when the Northwestern Wildcats played a neutral site "home" game against the Buckeyes. While Northwestern received the home team's share of the gate receipts, Buckeye fans made up the vast majority of the crowd.^[29]

Concerts

In addition to sporting events, the stadium hosted a number of other events including concerts. The first concert held at the stadium, featuring the Beatles, took place in 1966. From 1974 to 1980, the World Series of Rock concerts were held each summer featuring acts such as the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys and Aerosmith. The Rolling Stones' July 1, 1978 concert of 82,238 attendees was reportedly the first concert to gross over $1 million.^[30]

In the 1980s and 1990s, the stadium hosted concerts by the Jacksons, Bruce Springsteen, U2, the Who and Paul McCartney, plus more concerts by Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones.

On September 2, 1995, the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was celebrated with an all-star concert which featured Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.^[31]

Religious events

The stadium also hosted numerous religious services. Its most heavily attended event was the Roman Catholic Church's Seventh Eucharistic Congress, hosted by the Diocese of Cleveland in 1935, which attracted 75,000 to a midnight mass on September 24, 1935 and an estimated 125,000 to Eucharistic service the following day.^[32] One of the stadium's last events was a Billy Graham crusade, held in 1994.

Popular culture

Several scenes for the motion picture, The Fortune Cookie, were filmed during the game between the Browns and the visiting Minnesota Vikings on October 31, 1965. Much of the 1949 movie The Kid from Cleveland, in which Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Bill Veeck and Satchel Paige played themselves, was filmed there. Despite being set in the stadium, the 1989 motion picture Major League was not filmed in the stadium. While aerial distance shots of the stadium were used, Milwaukee County Stadium, whose grandstand interior looked similar to that of Municipal Stadium, was used for filming.^[33] Some scenes in the 1991 made-for-TV Babe Ruth biopic, starring Stephen Lang as Ruth and with a cameo by Pete Rose as Ty Cobb, were filmed there.^[34]

Demise

The stadium was an economic drain on the City of Cleveland, which owned it and originally operated it. In 1973, then-Browns owner Art Modell signed a 25-year lease to operate Cleveland Municipal Stadium.^[35] Modell's newly formed company, Stadium Corporation, assumed the expenses of operations from the city, freeing up tax dollars for other purposes.^[36] Also, Modell would pay an annual rent of $150,000 for the first five years and $200,000 afterwards to the city. In exchange, Modell would receive all revenue generated by the stadium. Stadium Corp invested in improvements, including new electronic scoreboards and luxury suites.^[35] However, the stadium's inadequacy was becoming apparent in any event; chunks of concrete were falling off and the pilings were starting to petrify.^[37]

Modell, mistakenly believing that his revenues were not endangered, refused to participate in the Gateway Project that built a new ballpark for the Indians and a new arena for the Cavaliers.^[38] Modell's assumptions proved incorrect, and Stadium Corp.'s suite revenues declined sharply when the Indians moved from the stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994.^[36] The following year, Modell announced plans to move the Browns to Baltimore after the 1995 season.

Modell's move of the Browns breached the team's lease, and the City of Cleveland sued. As part of the settlement, the city agreed to demolish Cleveland Stadium and build a new stadium on the same site. Modell agreed to leave the Browns' name, colors, and history in Cleveland, and the NFL agreed to have a resurrected Browns team by 1999, either by relocation or expansion. Demolition on Cleveland Stadium began in November 1996 and was completed in early 1997. 15,000 short tons (14,000 t) of demolition debris was dumped into Lake Erie to create three artificial reefs for fishermen and divers, offshore of Cleveland and neighboring Lakewood. Construction on the new stadium began later in 1997 and it opened in August 1999 as Cleveland Browns Stadium.^[39]^[40]

References

^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
^ "History, Legacy...and Today". Biltmore Construction. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
^ http://www.case.edu/its/archives/Seasons/wfoot1933.htm
^ Lewis, Franklin (2006). The Cleveland Indians. Kent State University Press reprint from Putnam. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-87338-885-6.
^ Browne, F.G., ed. (1933). The Games of the Xth Olympiad, Los Angeles 1932 Official Report (PDF). Los Angeles, California: Xth Olympiad Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, U.S.A. 1932, Ltd. pp. 37–38. OCLC 1437448. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
^ Pahigaian, Josh; O'Connell, Kevin (2004). The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. p. 235. ISBN 1-59228-159-1.
^ Torry, Jack (1996). Endless Summers: The Fall and Rise of the Cleveland Indians. Diamond Communications. p. 207. ISBN 0912083980. A peculiar legend has emerged that Cleveland Stadium was a WPA project designed to attract the Olympics.
^ Cormack, George (1997). Municipal Stadium: Memories on the Lakefront, Vol. 1. Cleveland, Ohio: Instant Concepts, Inc. p. 2. ISBN 1-882171-21-7.
^ "Donald Gray Gardens". Cleveland Historical. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Gordon, Roger (2015). Cleveland Browns A - Z [Cleveland Municipal/Cleveland Stadium Seating Capacities]. New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-858-7. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
^ Sanchez, Joseph (February 16, 1992). "Pulling His Own Strings Henshaw Carries Top Credentials". The Denver Post. p. 15B. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
^ Cormack, op.cit. p.17.
^ Clem's Baseball ~ League Park (IV)
^ Lowry, Phillip (2005). Green Cathedrals. New York City: Walker & Company. ISBN 0-8027-1562-1.
^ Toman, James A. (1997). Cleveland Stadium: The Last Chapter. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Landmarks Press, Inc. p. 87. ISBN 0-936760-10-9.
^ Cormack, op.cit. p.59.
^ Cormack, op.cit. p.58.
^ "'Mortician' Veeck Buries 1948 Flag" The Plain Dealer September 24, 1949: 14
^ Lukas, Paul (October 19, 2007). "Lukas: Long live the bullpen car - ESPN Page 2". Espn.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
^ "1993 Cleveland Indians Schedule and Results". Baseball-Reference.com. 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
^ Exner, Rich (December 17, 2009). "This Day in Browns History: Original Browns win farewell game in Cleveland Stadium". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^ "1931 Cleveland Indians". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
^ "Brooklyn Dodgers 0 at Cleveland Indians 6". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
^ "Chicago Cardinals 14 at Cleveland Indians 6". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
^ Fox, John L. (September 1993). I Pitched Opening Game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. p. 82. Retrieved July 19, 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv23/CFHSNv23n3d.pdf
^ Watterson, John S. (2000). College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 256. ISBN 0-8018-6428-3.
^ Krsolovic & Fritz. "League Park, Historic Home of Cleveland Baseball 1891–1946", McFarland & Co., 2013, pp. 33-34.
^ Toman, James A. (1994). Cleveland Stadium: Sixty Years of Memories. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Landmarks Press, Inc. pp. 45–46. ISBN 0-936760-09-5.
^ Toman, op.cit. pp.59-65.
^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321753/
^ Toman, op.cit. pp.45-46.
^ A partial list of films in Greater Cleaveland
^ Creamer, Robert W. (September 30, 1991). "The Babe Goes Hollywood". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
^ ^a ^b Munson, Lester (December 4, 1995). "A Busted Play". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Henkel 2005, p. 102
^ Morgan, Jon (December 17, 1995). "Inside the Browns Deal". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
^ Naymik, Mark (September 13, 2012). "Art Modell Was Offered a Stadium for the Cleveland Browns and Passed". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
^ Ohio Coastal Atlas (PDF). Ohio Department of Natural Resources. p. 10. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
^ Wendling, Mike (August 19, 1999). "Stadium finds new life as a lake reef". Cincinnati Enquirer. Associated Press. Retrieved October 4, 2016.

Bibliography

Leventhal, Josh.(2000) Take me out to the ballpark: an illustrated tour of baseball parks past and present. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc. p. 59.

External links

Preceded by League Park	Home of the Cleveland Indians 1932 –1933 1936 – 1993 (shared with League Park until 1946)	Succeeded by League Park Jacobs Field
Preceded by first stadium	Home of the Cleveland Browns 1946 – 1995	Succeeded by Cleveland Browns Stadium
Preceded by first stadium Shaw Stadium League Park	Home of the Cleveland Rams 1936 – 1937 1939 – 1941 1945	Succeeded by Shaw Stadium League Park Last Stadium
Preceded by Polo Grounds Crosley Field Wrigley Field Dodger Stadium	Host of the All-Star Game 1935 1954 1963 1981	Succeeded by Braves Field County Stadium Shea Stadium Olympic Stadium
Preceded by Miami Orange Bowl	Host of AFC Championship Game 1987	Succeeded by Mile High Stadium

[inflation-US-1] 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

[2] "History, Legacy...and Today". Biltmore Construction. Retrieved May 10, 2014.

[3] ttp://www.case.edu/its/archives/Seasons/wfoot1933.htm

[4] Lewis, Franklin (2006). The Cleveland Indians. Kent State University Press reprint from Putnam. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-87338-885-6.

[5] Browne, F.G., ed. (1933). The Games of the Xth Olympiad, Los Angeles 1932 Official Report (PDF). Los Angeles, California: Xth Olympiad Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, U.S.A. 1932, Ltd. pp. 37–38. OCLC 1437448. Retrieved January 5, 2016.

[6] Pahigaian, Josh; O'Connell, Kevin (2004). The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. p. 235. ISBN 1-59228-159-1.

[7] Torry, Jack (1996). Endless Summers: The Fall and Rise of the Cleveland Indians. Diamond Communications. p. 207. ISBN 0912083980. A peculiar legend has emerged that Cleveland Stadium was a WPA project designed to attract the Olympics.

[8] Cormack, George (1997). Municipal Stadium: Memories on the Lakefront, Vol. 1. Cleveland, Ohio: Instant Concepts, Inc. p. 2. ISBN 1-882171-21-7.

[9] "Donald Gray Gardens". Cleveland Historical. Retrieved April 22, 2012.

[cmscap-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Gordon, Roger (2015). Cleveland Browns A - Z [Cleveland Municipal/Cleveland Stadium Seating Capacities]. New York: Sports Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61321-858-7. Retrieved June 4, 2018.

[11] Sanchez, Joseph (February 16, 1992). "Pulling His Own Strings Henshaw Carries Top Credentials". The Denver Post. p. 15B. Retrieved May 10, 2014.

[12] Cormack, op.cit. p.17.

[13] Clem's Baseball ~ League Park (IV)

[14] Lowry, Phillip (2005). Green Cathedrals. New York City: Walker & Company. ISBN 0-8027-1562-1.

[15] Toman, James A. (1997). Cleveland Stadium: The Last Chapter. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Landmarks Press, Inc. p. 87. ISBN 0-936760-10-9.

[16] Cormack, op.cit. p.59.

[17] Cormack, op.cit. p.58.

[18] "'Mortician' Veeck Buries 1948 Flag" The Plain Dealer September 24, 1949: 14

[19] Lukas, Paul (October 19, 2007). "Lukas: Long live the bullpen car - ESPN Page 2". Espn.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.

[20] "1993 Cleveland Indians Schedule and Results". Baseball-Reference.com. 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.

[21] Exner, Rich (December 17, 2009). "This Day in Browns History: Original Browns win farewell game in Cleveland Stadium". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved January 15, 2016.

[22] "1931 Cleveland Indians". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 27, 2015.

[23] "Brooklyn Dodgers 0 at Cleveland Indians 6". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 27, 2015.

[24] "Chicago Cardinals 14 at Cleveland Indians 6". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 27, 2015.

[Harder1-25] Fox, John L. (September 1993). I Pitched Opening Game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. p. 82. Retrieved July 19, 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

[26] ttp://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv23/CFHSNv23n3d.pdf

[27] Watterson, John S. (2000). College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 256. ISBN 0-8018-6428-3.

[Krsolovic_2013,_p._143-28] Krsolovic & Fritz. "League Park, Historic Home of Cleveland Baseball 1891–1946", McFarland & Co., 2013, pp. 33-34.

[29] Toman, James A. (1994). Cleveland Stadium: Sixty Years of Memories. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Landmarks Press, Inc. pp. 45–46. ISBN 0-936760-09-5.

[30] Toman, op.cit. pp.59-65.

[31] ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321753/

[32] Toman, op.cit. pp.45-46.

[33] A partial list of films in Greater Cleaveland

[34] Creamer, Robert W. (September 30, 1991). "The Babe Goes Hollywood". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 10, 2014.

[SIMunson1-35] Munson, Lester (December 4, 1995). "A Busted Play". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 19, 2011.

[henkel102-36] Henkel 2005, p. 102

[37] Morgan, Jon (December 17, 1995). "Inside the Browns Deal". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 1, 2008.

[ModellRefuse-38] Naymik, Mark (September 13, 2012). "Art Modell Was Offered a Stadium for the Cleveland Browns and Passed". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland. Retrieved October 3, 2012.

[39] Ohio Coastal Atlas (PDF). Ohio Department of Natural Resources. p. 10. Retrieved October 4, 2016.

[40] Wendling, Mike (August 19, 1999). "Stadium finds new life as a lake reef". Cincinnati Enquirer. Associated Press. Retrieved October 4, 2016.

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v t e Cleveland Browns
Founded in 1946 Based in Cleveland, Ohio Headquartered in Berea, Ohio
Franchise	History All-time roster (A–J, K–Z) Head coaches Seasons Logos and uniforms First-round draft picks 1999 expansion draft Starting quarterbacks Pro Bowlers Broadcasters
Stadiums	Cleveland Stadium Huntington Bank Field
Key personnel	Owners: Jimmy Haslam Dee Haslam Chief Strategy Officer: Paul DePodesta EVP of Football Ops/GM: Andrew Berry Head coach: Kevin Stefanski
Culture	Art Modell Cleveland sports curse Dawg Pound Doug Dieken The Drew Carey Show Draft Day Hot Tub Time Machine Jeff Shreve Paul Brown Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man The Express: The Ernie Davis Story The Dirty Dozen The Fortune Cookie Brownie the Elf
Lore	Kardiac Kids Miracle at the Met Red Right 88 The Drive The Fumble Relocation controversy 0–16 Bottlegate Deshaun Watson trade
Rivalries	Baltimore Ravens Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers
Playoff appearances (30)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1971 1972 1980 1982 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1994 2002 2020 2023
Division championships (12)	1946 1947 1948 1967 1968 1969 1971 1980 1985 1986 1987 1989
Conference championships (11)	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1964 1965 1968 1969
League championships (8)	AAFC: 1946 1947 1948 1949 NFL: 1950 1954 1955 1964
Retired numbers	14 32 45 46 76
Hall of Fame inductees	Players: Brown, J. DeLamielleure Ford Gatski Graham Groza Hickerson Kelly Lavelli McCormack Mitchell Motley Newsome Thomas Warfield Willis Coach: Brown, P.
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1950–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division
Former league affiliation	League: All-America Football Conference (1946–1949)
Media	Cleveland Browns Radio Network Andrew Siciliano Nathan Zegura Je'Rod Cherry WEWS-TV Chris Rose Nathan Zegura Aditi Kinkhabwala

v t e Los Angeles Rams
Founded in 1936 Played in Cleveland, Ohio (1936–1945) and St. Louis, Missouri (1995–2015) Based in Inglewood, California Headquartered in Agoura Hills, California
Franchise	Franchise History in Cleveland in St. Louis NFL in Los Angeles Seasons All-time roster (A–Kin, Kir–Z) Coaches First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks Statistics Broadcasters Awards
Stadiums	Cleveland Stadium League Park Shaw Stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Anaheim Stadium Busch Memorial Stadium The Dome at America's Center SoFi Stadium
Culture	Rampage Cheerleaders Triple Threat Crazylegs Heaven Can Wait Melonheads Mob Squad (fans) Nelly John Ramsey "Win" Red Hot Chili Peppers Big A Sign American Underdog
Lore	Bull Elephant backfield Fearsome Foursome Jerome Bettis trade The Greatest Show on Turf The Tackle Mob Squad (2015-19) Sean McVay effect 2018 Monday Night Football Game NOLA No-Call
Rivalries	Arizona Cardinals Dallas Cowboys Kansas City Chiefs (former) Minnesota Vikings New Orleans Saints San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks
Retired numbers	7 28 29 74 75 78 80 85
Media	Broadcasters KCBS-FM Radio network D'Marco Farr Dick Enberg
Wild card berths (9)	1980 1983 1984 1986 1988 1989 2000 2004 2020
Division championships (18)	1945 1949 1967 1969 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1985 1999 2001 2003 2017 2018 2021
Conference championships (8)	1950 1951 1955 1979 1999 2001 2018 2021
League championships (4)	1945 1951 1999 (XXXIV) 2021 (LVI)
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1937–present) Conference: National Football Conference Division: West Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1936)

v t e Case Western Reserve Spartans football
Venues	League Park Cleveland Stadium Shaw Stadium DiSanto Field (2005–present)
Bowls & rivalries	1941 Sun Bowl Carnegie Mellon: Academic Bowl Wooster: Baird Brothers Trophy
Case Tech seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1909 1910 1916 1918 1920 1925 1932 1939 1941 1943 1945 1946 1961
Western Reserve seasons	1890 1891 1894 1898 1899 1907 1908 1915 1916 1918 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1961
Post-merger seasons	1984 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

v t e Cleveland Indians (NFL 1931)
Defunct National Football League club 1931 Based in Cleveland, Ohio
The Franchise	Players
Stadium	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Head Coaches	Al Cornsweet & Hoge Workman
Seasons	1931
Related franchises	Preceded by the Orange/Newark Tornadoes — Succeeded by the Boston/Washington Redskins
Unrelated franchises	Cleveland Indians (1921) Cleveland Indians (1923)

v t e Former stadiums of the National Football League
Early era: 1920–1940	League Park (Akron) (Akron Pros) Armory Park (Toledo Maroons) Baker Bowl (Philadelphia Eagles) Bellevue Park (Green Bay Packers) Bison Stadium (Buffalo Bison/Rangers) Borchert Field (Milwaukee Badgers, Green Bay Packers) Bosse Field (Evansville Crimson Giants) Braves Field (Boston Braves, Boston Yanks) Buffalo Baseball Park (Buffalo All-Americans) League Field (Canton) (Canton Bulldogs) City Stadium (Green Bay Packers) Clarkin Field (Hartford Blues) Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland Rams) Comiskey Park (Chicago Cardinals) Commercial Field (New York Brickley Giants) Crosley Field (Cincinnati Reds) Cubs Park/Wrigley Field (Chicago Tigers, Hammond Pros, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals) Cycledrome (Providence Steam Roller) Dinan Field (Detroit Wolverines, Detroit Lions) Douglas Park (Rock Island Independents) Duluth's Athletic Park (Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos) East Hartford Velodrome (Hartford Blues) Ebbets Field (New York Brickley Giants, Brooklyn Lions, Brooklyn Dodgers) Eclipse Park (Louisville Breckenridges) Fenway Park (Boston Braves, Boston Yanks) Forbes Field (Pittsburgh Pirates/Steelers) Frankford Stadium (Frankford Yellow Jackets) Griffith Stadium (Washington) Hagemeister Park (Green Bay Packers) Horlick Field (Racine Legion, Racine Tornadoes) Kinsley Park (Providence Steam Roller) Knights of Columbus Stadium (Orange Tornadoes) Lakeside Park (Canton Bulldogs) League Park (Cleveland Tigers, Indians/Bulldogs, Rams) Lexington Park (Minneapolis Marines) Luna Park (Cleveland Panthers) Minersville Park (Pottsville Maroons) Muehlebach Field (Kansas City Blues/Cowboys) Nash Field (Kenosha Maroons) Navin Field/Briggs Stadium (Detroit Heralds/Tigers, Panthers, Lions) Neil Park (Columbus Wagner Pirates) Newark Schools Stadium (Newark Tornadoes) Newark Velodrome (Newark Tornadoes) Nickerson Field (Boston Braves) Nicollet Park (Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets) Normal Park (Chicago Cardinals) Parkway Field (Louisville Brecks) Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (Philadelphia Eagles) Polo Grounds (New York Giants, New York Brickley Giants) Shaw Stadium (Cleveland Rams) Shibe Park (Philadelphia Eagles) Spartan Municipal Stadium (Portsmouth Spartans) Sportsman's Park (St. Louis All-Stars, St. Louis Gunners) Staley Field (Decatur Staleys) Star Park (possible, Syracuse Pros) Swayne Field (Toledo Maroons) Thompson Stadium (Staten Islands Stapletons) Triangle Park (Dayton Triangles) Wisconsin State Fair Park (Green Bay Packers) Yankee Stadium I (New York Yankees, New York Giants)
Post-War and Pre-Merger era: 1941–1969	Alumni Stadium (Boston Patriots) Astrodome (Houston Oilers) Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta Falcons) Balboa Stadium (San Diego Chargers) Baltimore Memorial Stadium (Baltimore Colts) Bears Stadium/Mile High Stadium (Denver Broncos) Briggs Stadium/Tiger Stadium (Detroit Lions) Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) Busch Memorial Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland Browns) Comiskey Park (Chicago Cardinals, Card-Pitt) Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium (Philadelphia Eagles, Phil-Pitt Steagles) Cotton Bowl (Dallas Texans, Dallas Cowboys) District of Columbia Stadium/RFK Memorial Stadium (Washington Redskins) Dyche Stadium (Chicago Bears) Ebbets Field (Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers) Fenway Park (Boston Yanks, Boston Patriots) Forbes Field (Pittsburgh Steelers, Phil-Pitt Steagles, Card-Pitt) Frank Youell Field (Oakland Raiders) Franklin Field (Philadelphia Eagles) Griffith Stadium (Washington Redskins) Harvard Stadium (Boston Patriots) Jeppesen Stadium (Houston Oilers) Kansas City Municipal Stadium (Kansas City Chiefs) Kezar Stadium (San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders) League Park (Cleveland Rams) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers) Metropolitan Stadium (Minnesota Vikings) Miami Orange Bowl (Miami Dolphins) Milwaukee County Stadium (Green Bay Packers) Nickerson Field (Boston Patriots) Nippert Stadium (Cincinnati Bengals) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland Raiders) Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (Philadelphia Eagles) Pitt Stadium (Pittsburgh Steelers) Polo Grounds (New York Giants, New York Bulldogs, New York Titans/Jets) Rice Stadium (Houston Oilers) Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati Bengals) San Diego Stadium (San Diego Chargers) Shea Stadium (New York Jets) Tulane Stadium (New Orleans Saints) War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo Bills) Wisconsin State Fair Park (Green Bay Packers) Wrigley Field (Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals) Yankee Stadium I (New York Yanks, New York Giants)
Current era: 1970–present	Anaheim Stadium (Los Angeles Rams) Astrodome (Houston Oilers) Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta Falcons) Baltimore Memorial Stadium (Baltimore Colts, Baltimore Ravens) Busch Memorial Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Rams) Candlestick Park (San Francisco 49ers) Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland Browns) Cotton Bowl (Dallas Cowboys) The Dome at America's Center (St. Louis Rams) Foxboro Stadium (New England Patriots) Georgia Dome (Atlanta Falcons) Giants Stadium (New York Giants, New York Jets) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota Vikings) Kansas City Municipal Stadium (Kansas City Chiefs) Kingdome (Seattle Seahawks) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Raiders) Metropolitan Stadium (Minnesota Vikings) Miami Orange Bowl (Miami Dolphins) Mile High Stadium (Denver Broncos) Milwaukee County Stadium (Green Bay Packers) Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland Raiders) RCA Dome (Indianapolis Colts) Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati Bengals) Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (Washington Redskins) San Diego Stadium (San Diego Chargers) Shea Stadium (New York Jets, New York Giants) Silverdome (Detroit Lions) Sun Devil Stadium (Arizona Cardinals) Tampa Stadium (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) Texas Stadium (Dallas Cowboys) Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh Steelers) Tiger Stadium (Detroit Lions) Tulane Stadium (New Orleans Saints) Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia Eagles) War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo Bills) Yankee Stadium I (New York Giants)
Stadiums used by NFL teams temporarily	Alamodome (New Orleans Saints)1 Chicago Stadium (Chicago Bears) Champaign Memorial Stadium (Chicago Bears)† Clemson Memorial Stadium (Carolina Panthers)† Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles Chargers)† Frankford High School's Community Memorial Stadium (Frankford Yellow Jackets)1 Giants Stadium (New Orleans Saints)1 Grant Field (Atlanta Falcons) Husky Stadium (Seattle Seahawks)1† Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Tennessee Oilers)† LSU Tiger Stadium (New Orleans Saints)1 Marquette Stadium (Green Bay Packers) Philadelphia Municipal Stadium (Philadelphia Eagles)1 Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium (Philadelphia Eagles)1 Stanford Stadium (San Francisco 49ers)1 Huntington Bank Stadium (Minnesota Vikings)1† University of Minnesota Memorial Stadium (Minnesota Vikings)1 Vanderbilt Stadium (Tennessee Titans)† Yale Bowl (New York Giants)†
Architecture portal Sports portal †= Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage.