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Jacobs Field
For years, baseball in Cleveland was played in the cold, cramped, mammoth Cleveland Stadium. "The Mistake by the Lake," as they called it, had been the home of Cleveland baseball since it first opened in 1932, although the Indians still played some games at old League Park until 1947. Its center-field bleachers, known as "the Dawg Pound" during the NFL Cleveland Browns games, were so distant that no batter ever reached them with a home run. Cleveland Stadium had more than 74,000 seats (more than any other major league park) but few of those seats were filled when the Indians played. That all changed when Jacobs Field, which has only 43,345 seats, opened in 1994. Attendance suddenly boomed. In their first year at the new park, Cleveland averaged 39,121 fans per game. The final 28 games before a season-ending strike all sold out.
Cleveland Stadium had lots of seats, few luxury boxes, and cramped clubhouses. Jacobs Field is smaller, with many luxury boxes and large clubhouses. Cleveland Stadium was next to Lake Erie, but Jacobs Field is conveniently located in the middle of downtown. Cleveland Stadium, which was built for a failed attempt by Cleveland to host the 1932 Olympics, functioned more as a football stadium than a baseball park. Jacobs Field, by contrast, was built only for baseball.
Despite its modern luxuries, Jacobs Field has some of the features of classic ballparks. The field is asymmetrical, and bleachers sit atop a 19-foot left-field wall. Because the park isn't completely enclosed, fans can look out over the buildings of downtown Cleveland.
Jacobs Field is similar in look and feel to Baltimore's Camden Yards, opened two years earlier. But the Indians did some things with their ballpark that the Orioles didn't. The seats down both lines are angled towards home plate so that fans don't need to turn their heads to watch the game. An area behind first base is designated Kidsland, with special concessions and features. Then there are the bullpens, which feature three mounds. As in Baltimore, the bullpens are raised above the playing field so that fans can see who is warming up. A picnic area is located behind the outfield fence, just as in Baltimore.
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