Nicollet Park

Nicollet Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota was home to the Minneapolis Millers from 1896 to 1955. It was home of a Millers club in the Western League for its first four seasons, the Millers in the American League in 1900, and a Millers squad in the American Association beginning in 1902. It was located outside of the downtown core, but was easily accessible by public transit. A single-decked park, its capacity was initially 4,000 and increased over time to 8,500. It was known as a home run haven, as right field was just 279 feet from home with a 10 foot high fence. The first time that Wheaties used its "Breakfast of Champions" slogan was on the walls of Nicollet Park in 1933.

Some of the greatest feats accomplished in Nicollet Park include Millers first baseman Joe Hauser hitting a pair of home runs there on September 9, 1933 to end the year with 69 homers, a high minor league record; 50 of those homers had been hit in Nicollet Park, a testament to its friendly dimensions. On June 14, 1935, first baseman Dale Alexander of the Kansas City Blues hit four home runs in a game against the Millers. A little over five years later, on July 4, 1940, Millers outfielder Ab Wright outdid Alexander's feat. In the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Paul Saints, he hit four homers and a triple, in addition to slugging a round tripper in the first game of the twin bill.

During the 1917 season, the Millers experimented with playing some night games at Nicollet Park - but without lights, taking advantage of late sunset times caused by the recently adopted measure of Daylight Savings Time. On June 29, 1931, the House of David installed temporary lights here in order to play an exhibition game against the Millers. Permanent artificial lights were finally installed here and in neighboring St. Paul in 1937, making the two Twin Cities ballparks the last ones to do so in the American Association.

By the 1950s, Nicollet Park had fallen into disrepair, and by the time the final game was played there in 1955, it was likely one of the oldest stadiums in professional baseball. The park was torn down shortly after the last game and was replaced by a bank building.

Further Reading

• Stew Thornley: "Twin Cities Ballparks of the 20th Century and Beyond", in Daniel R. Levitt, ed.: Short but Wondrous Summers: Baseball in the North Star State, The National Pastime, Volume 42 (2012), pp. 94-103.
• Stew Thornley: "The Nights the Lights Went on in the Twin Cities", in Michael J. Haupert, ed.: Baseball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, The National Pastime, 2024 Edition, pp. 36-39.

Related Sites

• Nicollet Park (Minneapolis) at the SABR Bio Project