When what was formerly known as Bradenton's City Park opened in 1923, Major League Baseball's commissioner at the time, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, arrived for pregame festivities on a biplane piloted by a Manatee County official.
The aircraft landed in the outfield of a ballpark that was built for $2,000 and seated 1,300 fans. Like all ballparks at the time, it was segregated, while converted fairgrounds buildings served as makeshift locker rooms.
Much has changed throughout 100 years of baseball in Bradenton, Fla., including a relationship with the Pirates that dates back to 1969, but plenty has remained the same, too.
Through countless twists and turns, the Friendly City — located along the Manatee River about 45 minutes south of Tampa, Fla. — remains a hub of baseball activity, one featuring some of MLB's best teams, dozens of Hall of Fame players passing through and a venerable ballpark surpassed by only Fenway Park (1912) and Wrigley Field (1914) when it comes to usage by a major league team.
"Without a sports team, a town is a lot different," said Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, who's a fifth-generation Manatee County resident. "Without baseball and the relationship we have with the Pirates, our town would be a lot different."
With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training this week, it's the perfect time to dig into Bradenton's baseball past, one with ties to the Negro Leagues, the breaking of baseball's color barrier and even the ballpark — most famously known as McKechnie Field from 1962-2017 — being flipped into a support facility during World War II.
"Being tasked with this, it opened my eyes not only to Pirates baseball in the area but the history of Major League Baseball in the Bradenton," Pirates team historian Jim Trdinich said. "It's really incredible."
Humble beginnings
Bradenton's fascinating baseball history actually started with the Bradenton Growers of the Florida State League, who played at a field located slightly east of the current ballpark. A year after the Growers started, in December 1920, the Manatee County Board of Trade voted to bring MLB to the area to help the local economy.
The Growers' president and majority owner at the time was a man named Robert M. Beall Sr., who founded the Bradenton-based department store chain bearing his last name. Beall was connected to Sam Breadon, who owned the St. Louis Cardinals (along with a citrus grove in Manatee County) and agreed to move his team from Orange, Texas, to the Florida's west coast.
The ballpark was actually constructed slightly east of where LECOM Park — its name since 2018 — stands today, which back then was a nine-hole golf course called the Bradenton Golf Club. (The outfield where the biplane landed was a par-5 hole.)
One problem with the original iteration of the park — known as Ninth Street Park before the Cardinals arrived, then by that name again from 1927-47 — was that second base sat 14 inches lower than home plate, and the outfield was two feet lower than second base before construction was done to ensure the playing surface was level.
The Cardinals called Bradenton home from 1923-24. The Phillies (1925-27) and Red Sox (1928-29) had stints later in the decade. St. Louis returned in 1930 and stayed until 1936 before the Boston Bees played in Bradenton from 1938-1940.
In 1941, the U.S. Army took over, closed the ballpark and renamed it Camp Bradenton, later changing the name to Camp Weatherford in April 1943 to honor Pfc. Willie M. Weatherford of Miami, who was killed in the Philippines during World War II.
The Boston/Milwaukee Braves were there from 1948-62 and the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics called Bradenton home from 1963-69 before the Pirates shifted their operations from Fort Myers, where they trained from 1955-68.
"The Pirates take tremendous pride in working with the city of Bradenton, Manatee County, the Chamber of Commerce and Realize Bradenton — all the entities there that help promote the greatness of the town," said Trdinich, who's also a part-time Bradenton resident. "Having the Pirates as an integral part of that since 1969, it's a great relationship to have with the city of Bradenton."
That fit has been snug from Day 1, too, starting with McKechnie Field — named after Hall of Famer manager Bill, a Wilkinsburg native (and former Bradenton resident) who guided the Pirates to the 1925 World Series.
Foothold in history
Bradenton's baseball history also has important ties to the Negro Leagues, with the Bradenton 9 Devils of the Florida State Negro League playing there from 1937-56. In 1950, Bradenton became the first Florida city to employ a Black baseball player: Sam Jethroe of the Boston Braves.
The Bradenton Marauders, Pittsburgh's Low-A affiliate, have been around since 2010. That was a couple months after the Cincinnati Reds left Florida's Grapefruit League for the Cactus League in Arizona and the Pirates purchased/uprooted the Sarasota Reds, brought them to Bradenton and changed the name.
Furthering the bond between the organization and city, the Marauders are active in the community, functioning as a southern representative of the MLB franchise.
"It's pretty cool to think about the history here," said Jeff Podobnik, who served as the Pirates' director of Florida operations in Bradenton from 1991-99 and is currently titled their vice president of Florida and Dominican Republic operations. "Whenever I talk to people, I tell them, 'We aren't going anywhere.' It's important that we're part of the community."
LECOM Park is the oldest stadium still used for spring training games but has undergone plenty of renovations: Clubhouses and press box in 1992-93, then another totaling $10 million in 2013. That included the 19,000-foot boardwalk that lines the outfield, complete with palm trees. A new clubhouse followed two years later.
The Pirates unveiled a commemorative logo celebrating their 40th year of spring training baseball in Bradenton in 2008, the patch displaying a classic Pirates "P" on the historical face outline of McKechnie Field.
Lights arrived in 2008, though the first attempt to play under them (March 7, 2008 vs. Reds) was rained out. It finally happened in a game against the Yankees on March 19, 2008.
"I've seen every ballpark in spring training," said Trdinich, who before his current role spent three-plus decades as the team's director of baseball communications. "The intimacy of it — you can get from Point A to Point B in literally under a minute. The people who work there are outstanding and friendly. After all, it is the Friendly City.
"The enhancements the city and Pirates have done to the ballpark have made it that much better."
Most impressive about Bradenton's storied history with baseball might be the stunning list of players who've played there: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig to name a few of the Hall of Famers.
The Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" of the 1930s? It originated from a gas station Dizzy Dean bought in Bradenton. Meanwhile, the modern-day greats are also incredible: David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter and more.
Yet to Brown, the mayor who was 12 when the Pirates won their last World Series and still keeps a medallion from that team, the most notable baseball players Bradenton has seen remain Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski, Pittsburgh baseball icons who have forged an incredible relationship with the club's home away from home.
It's one that brings in upwards of $40 million annually, Brown said, citing the most recent economic impact study, and also a relationship the two sides hope to take to the next level for the 100-year anniversary.
A second field will be added to the area near LECOM Park, with lights put on both. The goal is to make the entire complex a year-round destination, with the Pirates in the spring, the Marauders during the season, then various high school championship games and international tournaments serving as offseason programming.
"We're going to re-energize that whole area," Brown said. We're working on some things to make baseball even more of a staple in Bradenton, and the Pirates are obviously a big part of that.
"That's how important baseball is to our town. Being 100 years old, it really has made a difference in Bradenton."
