Bovard Field

Bovard Field was the ballpark of the University of Southern California Trojans until they moved to Dedeaux Field in 1974. Built on the university's campus in Los Angeles, CA, it also was home to the USC football team, but only until 1923, when the team's popularity motivated a move to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which had a much higher seating capacity. The field was named for George Finley Bovard, President of the university from 1903 to 1921.

Seating capacity here was 12,000. One of the ballpark's quirks was that a large eucalyptus tree was located along the right field foul line; while its trunk was in foul territory, some of its branches were in play.

On March 26, 1951, a young Mickey Mantle began to build his legend here when he hit a monstrous homer estimated at 650 to 660 feet during an exhibition game by the New York Yankees against USC. The ball not only exited the ballpark, but also the width of a nearby practice football field before landing. Mantle hit two homers and a bases-loaded triple on the day, in a lopsided 15-1 win.