Ponce de Leon Park

Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta, Georgia, was home of the minor league Atlanta Crackers for more than a half century and also hosted the Atlanta Black Crackers of the Negro Leagues for several years. Built in 1903, the original all-wood stadium seated 11,000 fans. Late in the 1923 season, the park was destroyed by a fire. It was rebuilt as a 15,000 seat concrete park before the 1924 season and initially known as Spiller Park, before being renamed Ponce de Leon Park in 1932. One of its most unusual features was a magnolia tree that was in play in front of a scoreboard in right center field.

The park hosted the fastest game in organized baseball history - at the time - on September 17, 1910, when the Mobile Sea Gulls defeated the Crackers in only 32 minutes; it was the last game of the season, and the two teams wanted to see how fast a baseball game could be played. That record was eclipsed in 1916 during a North Carolina State League game played in Asheville, NC.

Further Reading

• Wynn Montgomery: "That Was Quick !", in Ken Fenster and Wynn Montgomery, eds: Baseball in the Peach State, The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 40 (2010), pp. 59-61.