I’m not very old, and I admit that I never really paid much attention to this little jewel, but I do remember seeing it as a kid. My parents grew up in Allapattah when they came from Cuba, and my father used to love driving us around town and showing us the neighborhood he grew up in, including the Miami Stadium. He loves baseball and the Orioles are his favorite team as he grew up watching them during spring training at the stadium.
When my brothers and I were growing up, my father decided that it was time for my brother to start playing baseball. Being that I was a headstrong girl (and still am) I got all sorts of bent out of shape that he wouldn’t consider the same for me, so I voiced my opinion, loudly, and was signed up for softball. I loved it! I loved it so much that I told my mom as a kid that I wanted to play professionally when I grew up. Then came the realization that there’s no such thing as pro women’s softball which the feminist inside of me got really upset over, but I’m digressing here. So what does this have to do with anything? Well, the Miami Herald has a great write up on the stadium that was torn down in 2001.
The stadium, built in 1940’s, was built by visionary and Cuban millionaire Jose Manuel Alleman. He decided to build this stadium in hopes of bringing big time baseball to Miami and it flopped.
I was doing some further research on the stadium, as this article sparked a huge interest in me with my love of architecture, especially in the historical sense, and I came across this picture while searching for any information. Notice that on the marquee it says “Home of the Miami Marlins”. I remember when the Marlins were first inducted: I even remember the competition that was held to name them, and I know full well that they were never called the “Miami Marlins,” it was always the Florida Marlins, and they never played at the Miami Stadium, since by the time they were inducted the stadium was already very outdated and in shambles. So I researched this some more and found this in Wikipedia:
“The Miracle franchise began in 1926 as the Fort Myers Palms, but moved to Miami for 1927 and played through mid-1928 as the Hustlers. Then, in 1962 they were re-named the Miami Marlins, after the former Class AAA International League team of the same name which existed from 1956-1960 (after the Syracuse Chiefs transferred there).The team played in the Class A Florida State League from 1963-1970 (Class D in 1962) and again from 1982-1988 as the Marlins. They were known as the Miami Orioles from 1971-1981 and are now known as the Fort Myers Miracle. During the vast majority of their time in Miami, the team played at Miami Stadium.”
Of course, now I wonder if this is why the Marlins got their name, as a reference to this team that played here back in the 60’s. Whatever the case may be there will be a documentary on the stadium tomorrow night appropriately at the Tower Theater in Little Havana at 6:30 pm. The theater is located at 1508 SW 8 Street. For all those who are as interested in Miami history, this may be worth it for you.
References:
Urban Paradise 