Lane Field (1936-1957) and Lane Field Park

Lane Field was originally a Navy recreation field built in 1925. In 1936, the owner of the Hollywood Stars moved his team to San Diego. Lane Field was constructed by the WPA in 1936 and named for the owner of the team. At that time, the Padres played in the Pacific Coast League this park would be their home until 1957. Lane Field was the site of Ted William’s debut into professional baseball in 1936-37. The ballpark was later demolished to create a parking lot and then later converted into a park. Today, Lane Field Park has a commemorative baseball diamond with home plate being located at the precise location where players like Ted Williams stood.  

Before the construction of Lane Field, this land was home to a Navy athletic field in 1925 which included a race track and uncovered bleachers. In 1936 the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal Program, converted the athletic field into a baseball park which became the home field of the Hollywood Stars. The new field was named for team owner Bill Lane while the team would change its name to the San Diego Padres and call the park home for 21 seasons.

The park was entirely constructed of wood and was constructed across Harbor Drive from the Pacific Ocean. The park opened without a roof, lights, or a backstop. Due to the field's dimensions, when a backstop was completed it was only twelve feet from home plate. As a result, wild pitches would often bounce back to the catcher, making advancing on a wild pitch a risk for base runners in ways that made the game more compelling for spectators. In the 1950s, it was discovered that the diamond was not uniform and the distance from home to first base was only 87 feet.

Ted Williams was the most famous Padres player in this period despite only playing for the minor league team for a single season from 1936 to 1937. Williams was a local product who began playing for the Padres during his summer break while in high school. Williams went onto play for the Boston Red Sox for 19 seasons with a career batting average of .344. Williams was the last player in Major League Baseball to hit over .400 in a single season in 1941. Ted Williams is known for his colorful quotes. "There’s only one way to become a hitter," Williams explained in one of his colorful baseball sayings, "go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and get mad at the pitcher.” This quote is engraved on a granite monument at home plate at the current Lane Field Park. 

The San Diego Padres played at Lane Field for twenty-one seasons and were a minor league team from their formation until 1968. The team played in the Pacific Coast League and Lane Field was their longest-tenured home of the three ballparks they utilized during their tenure as a minor league franchise.

Lane Field has an important place in the history of baseball in San Diego history. In addition to this park, there is a model of Lane Field on display at the Padre’s current park. Lane Field is honored in the form of Lane Field Park where the honorary baseball diamond lines up with the position of the diamond from the original Lane Field.

·      Bennett, Byron “San Diego’s Lane Field – The Ballpark by The Bay” Deadball Baseball March 10th, 2015 https://deadballbaseball.com/?p=6168

·      Healey, Paul “Lane Field” Project Ballpark Accessed 6th August, 2020 http://www.projectballpark.org/history/pcl/lane.html

·      Showley, Roger “Lane Field Park to honor Padres’ minor league history” San Diego Union-TribuneMarch 7th, 2012 https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/growth-development/sdut-lane-field-park-honor-padres-minor-league-history-2012mar07-story.html

·      Showley, Roger “Baseball Legacy Kept at Lane Field” San Diego Union-Tribune March 25th, 2015 https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/growth-development/sdut-lane-downtown-park-williams-baseball-2015mar22-htmlstory.html

·      Spedden, Zach “Ballparks that live on: Lane Field” Baseball Park Digest December 19th, 2019 https://ballparkdigest.com/2019/12/18/ballparks-that-live-on-lane-field/