Cleveland Indians

Jacobs Field

Thursday, August 28, 2003

Jacob’s Field opened in 1994 to replace Cleveland Stadium (more commonly known as Municipal Stadium or Riverfront Stadium), which was built in 1931 as one of the early multipurpose stadiums. I never saw the original stadium, but I heard it was falling apart near the end. It served as the Indians and the Brown’s home and had the largest seating capacity of any baseball stadium at around 70,000 people.

So this new stadium was quite a change. As a baseball-only venue, it’s seating capacity is much smaller at around 35,000.

And the Indians fans still seemed to be really excited about this new park. They affectionally call it “The Jake.” This was one of the first retro ballparks, coming on the heels of the 2-year old Camden Yards in Baltimore. More specifically, though it is considered “Retro-modern” by most standards. And I felt like this is a better description.

This location was not on the site of the old Cleveland Stadium, but instead, The Jake was inserted into downtown. I believe this was one of the first times I had heard the word “gentrification” used. Some locals told me that the park displaced a lot of low income people and raised prices around downtown. I think much of this had blown over by the time I arrived at the park in 2003. And as it seemed to me, the ballpark likely made the area significantly nicer for most Cleveland residents as part of the larger sports entrainment complex.

We got seats on the 3rd base side. After a few innings we noticed a man with a large drum in the outfield. I felt like I saw him in the movie “Major League.” So after the Indians were in control of the game, we headed to the outfield.

Turns out that the drummer was the Cleveland-famous John Adams who had been drumming in the outfield for the Indians since 1973. He told me he loved it, but since the new stadium opened, he had to buy a 2nd ticket for his drum, since it was larger that what was allowed and took up too much room. (Sometime in the following years, I read that the Indians eventually appreciated his dedication and contribution to the atmosphere, and now pay for his — and his drum’s — ticket). Anyway, he was very cool, and I actually didn’t fully appreciate how great it was to be able to talk with him for so long. He is a true baseball fan.

Final score: Indians beat the Tigers, 8-3

Update: Jacob’s Field is now known as Progressive Field (since 2008). And on July 23, 2021, it was announced that the Cleveland Indians would be renamed the Cleveland Guardians after the 2021 season.

Kim enjoying the game

View from the outfield near John Adams

Scoreboard view from out seats

Admission Ticket