Oaks Park (stadium)
Encyclopedia
Oaks Park, formally known as the Oakland Baseball Park, and at times nicknamed Emeryville Park, was a baseball
stadium
in Emeryville, California
. It was primarily used for baseball
, and was the home field of the Oakland Oaks
Pacific Coast League
baseball team. It opened in 1913 and held 7,000 people. The Oaks played there until 1955.
The ballpark was located within the city limits of Emeryville, between Oakland and Berkeley. The site was on the block bounded by 45th Street (north, first base); San Pablo Avenue (east, third base); Park Avenue (south, left field); and Watts Street (west, right field). The stadium did not front directly on San Pablo where a strip of various small commercial buildings stood, now replaced by a single one-story commercial building with several chain businesses.
Oaks Park was highly accessible, as a major streetcar line ran on San Pablo Avenue, and a station serving several of the Key System
's transbay commuter rail lines existed a few blocks south at Yerba Buena Avenue.
The Oaks had been playing most of their home games (except Thursdays and Sunday mornings) at Recreation Park
in San Francisco, starting when that new ballpark opened in 1907. Even after moving back to Oakland, the Oaks would play a number of games each year in San Francisco. PCL founding father J. Cal Ewing owned both the Oaks and the San Francisco Seals from 1903 until sometime in the 1920s, at which point the Oaks began playing all their games in Oakland.
The Oaks, faced with declining attendance and a detoriating ballpark, moved to Vancouver in 1956, two years before Major League Baseball
came to the Bay Area, and twelve years before the arrival of the Oakland Athletics
. Oaks Park, unsuitable for major league ball in any case, was long demolished by then.
Until recently, the site of the park was partly an empty, fenced-off lot, with Pixar Studios
overlapping it where Watts Street used to run through. Currently it is part of the Phase II of Pixar Studios expansion and will be a parking lot with a public bicycle path and park on the San Pablo side of the property.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in Emeryville, California
Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a small city located in Alameda County, California, in the United States. It is located in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, extending to the shore of San Francisco Bay. Its proximity to San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, the University of California, Berkeley, and...
. It was primarily used for baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, and was the home field of the Oakland Oaks
Oakland Oaks (PCL)
The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia...
Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
baseball team. It opened in 1913 and held 7,000 people. The Oaks played there until 1955.
The ballpark was located within the city limits of Emeryville, between Oakland and Berkeley. The site was on the block bounded by 45th Street (north, first base); San Pablo Avenue (east, third base); Park Avenue (south, left field); and Watts Street (west, right field). The stadium did not front directly on San Pablo where a strip of various small commercial buildings stood, now replaced by a single one-story commercial building with several chain businesses.
Oaks Park was highly accessible, as a major streetcar line ran on San Pablo Avenue, and a station serving several of the Key System
Key System
The Key System was a privately owned company which provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when the system was sold to a newly formed public...
's transbay commuter rail lines existed a few blocks south at Yerba Buena Avenue.
The Oaks had been playing most of their home games (except Thursdays and Sunday mornings) at Recreation Park
Recreation Park (San Francisco)
Recreation Park was the name applied to several former baseball parks in San Francisco, California in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century....
in San Francisco, starting when that new ballpark opened in 1907. Even after moving back to Oakland, the Oaks would play a number of games each year in San Francisco. PCL founding father J. Cal Ewing owned both the Oaks and the San Francisco Seals from 1903 until sometime in the 1920s, at which point the Oaks began playing all their games in Oakland.
The Oaks, faced with declining attendance and a detoriating ballpark, moved to Vancouver in 1956, two years before Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
came to the Bay Area, and twelve years before the arrival of the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
. Oaks Park, unsuitable for major league ball in any case, was long demolished by then.
Until recently, the site of the park was partly an empty, fenced-off lot, with Pixar Studios
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
overlapping it where Watts Street used to run through. Currently it is part of the Phase II of Pixar Studios expansion and will be a parking lot with a public bicycle path and park on the San Pablo side of the property.
Sources
- Take Me Out to the Ball Park, Lowell Reidenbaugh, The Sporting News, 1983 & 1987, p.200
