Calvin Griffith Park
Coordinates: 35°12′N 80°51′W / 35.200°N 80.850°W Clark Griffith Park or better known as Griffith Park was a stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, located at 400 Magnolia Avenue in the Dilworth section of town. The park opened in 1941 and held as many as 5,000 people in a covered grandstand which extended from first base to third base. It was primarily used for baseball, and served as the home field for the Charlotte Hornets, the farm team for the Washington Senators from 1937 to 1961, and Minnesota Twins from 1961 to 1972, and the Charlotte Orioles, a AA Southern League farm team of the Baltimore Orioles from 1976 to 1987. After a renovation of the park in 1976 for the O's, it was ready to host orioles minor league baseball. The park was renamed Jim Crockett Memorial Park in 1977 (but was mostly called Crockett Park), both in honor of the promoter who brought the team, and to distance themselves from the former owners. The park was almost completely burned down on March 16, 1985. Investigators determined the fire was set by juveniles.
The Crockett family built a 3,000-seat makeshift stadium soon after the fire. However, it was completely exposed to the elements. The O's attendance fell off over the next 2 seasons, 1986, and 1987, because there was no protection for the fans. When the Charlotte O's last season was over George Shinn bought the team, and the stadium, and renamed it Knights Park. The team was renamed Knights out of a naming contest to distance the similarity between the major league affiliate. The new Charlotte "Knights" only played there for their first season in 1988, and in 1989, the team switched affiliates to the Chicago Cubs , and moved to the new and much bigger ballpark in Fort Mill SC, the "Castle" or Knights Stadium.
References
- Classic Venues for Jim Crockett Promotions: Crockett Park
- Gault, Earl. Some win, some lose if Knights move to S. C. The Herald, 1988-05-22.