Memorial Stadium
Baltimore, MD

Memorial Stadium was home to some excellent teams and players during its existence. The Baltimore Orioles (originally a minor league team) played at Oriole Park until 1944, when the park burned down. The team then moved into Municipal Stadium (also called Babe Ruth Stadium) until 1949.

In 1950, the City of Baltimore decided to build a partial stadium at a cost of \$2.5 million. Later in that year, the Orioles moved into the new stadium named Memorial Stadium, along with the Baltimore Colts (NFL) The stadium had one level of wooden bleachers which had a capacity of 31,000; and extended from homeplate down both the right and left field lines and around each foul pole. In hope of getting the St. Louis Browns to move to Baltimore, the city rebuilt Memorial Stadium before the 1954 season. The Browns moved to Baltimore, and became the Orioles. Opening day was on April 15, 1954. An upper deck without a roof, and new seats was added. The capacity increased from 31,000 to 46,000. The stadium took a rounded horseshoe appearance, and the second tier spanned the inside of the horseshoe, stretching from the third-base side around to just beyond the first-base side. A "Gunther" scoreboard with a Longines clock was added in right field. With the addition of the two decks were concrete supports, which created obstructed views. A hedge initially served as the centerfield fence, but was replaced by a wire fence. The facade was a reddish-brown brick, and the home plate end had a tall concrete wall bearing an inscription honoring the city's war dead.

Memorial Stadium underwent several alterations during its existence. New dugouts, box seats, and bullpens, were added in 1961, increasing the capacity to 49,000. By 1964, the upper deck was lengthened, with two sections added at both ends of the horseshoe. Escalators were added too. The seating capacity was increased to 54,000 for baseball and 65,000 for football. In 1970, a digital scoreboard replaced the original "Gunther" scoreboard. Memorial Stadium was a great place to watch a baseball game, but an terrible place to watch football. During football season, the field was laid out so that the upper deck extended sixty yards, from the end zone of the horseshoe, past the 50-yard line to the 40-yard line where it ended on both sides. Not only were quality seats missing, but along with the obstructed seating, the "horseshoe" shape of the stadium was terrible for football, because the 40-50 yard line seats actually took fans away from the field. The Colts moved to Indianapolis after the 1984 season, and the Orioles were the only tenant at the stadium. In 1985, a Diamond Vision video board was added in left center field. Memorial Stadium offered beautiful views of the landscape beyond the open-end of the stadium. In 1988, it was announced that a new ballpark would be built for the Orioles in downtown Baltimore. The last game at Memorial Stadium was on October 6, 1991. The Orioles moved into Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992. After the Orioles left, a minor league team played at Memorial Stadium for one year. In 1996, football returned to Memorial Stadium. The Baltimore Ravens (NFL), played at the stadium for two years. Memorial Stadium remained empty, until 2001 when it was demolished.