League Park, Cleveland, Ohio

I don't know anything about baseball, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. In fact, I like it a lot. I just like it for the wrong reasons. I love the sounds and the smells. I like the cheering of fans and the shouting of the vendors, and the old-fashioned organ music. I enjoy the food smells and the taste of a hot dog with all of the stuff on it, even though I don't normally eat hot dogs. (They taste different at a ball game.)  I am fascinated by those perfect mowed-grass patterns on the field. I can enjoy a baseball game without caring who wins. My investment, when I buy a ticket, is simply in breathing in deeply (if somewhat obliviously) of the wonderful American tradition.

Once I was invited to watch a baseball game from a luxury suite. I was very excited about it, but it turned out to be a huge letdown. It had the effect of removing everything I love from the game, which is to say, the ambiance. This game in Cleveland seems to have ambiance and hats to spare. I wish I could have been there.

League Park in Cleveland was built in 1891 and provided seating for 9,000. In 1910, the stadium was completely rebuilt in steel and concrete, with seating for more than twice as many fans (that's what you see here.) This was the home of the Cleveland Indians for over 50 years. The park was renamed Dunn Field in 1916, after the new owner, but went back to being called League Park in 1927. League Park always had a slightly strange shape, because the neighboring property owner was unwilling to sell any property, so the right field fence was short. The Cleveland Indians moved to Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1932, but they continued to play at League Park on the weekends until 1947.  In 1951, League Park was demolished.

Here's what it looks like now. Kind of sad.

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The League Park Society is a non-profit dedicated to bringing baseball back to League Park. As they say on their website: On a spring day a visitor can still walk into this place and see the green grass. They can gaze down the old first base line and just imagine what Babe Ruth felt on August 11, 1929 when he hit his 500th home run over the wall onto Lexington Avenue or stand where Addie Joss throw his perfect game. You can close your eyes and just for a moment or two go back in time. Yes, the brick and mortar may largely be gone but the soul of League Park is still very much alive.

Convair 240

Convair was formed by a merger between Consolidated Aircraft Corporation and Vultee Aircraft. In 1946, they designed the Convair 240, the first twin-engine, pressurized airplane. It had a range of 830 miles, a built-in stairway, and was considered a luxury liner.  American Airlines, PanAm, Western Airlines,  KLM, and other airlines bought these. Initially, the price was $316,000. Although the plane could hold 44 passengers, the seating was normally arranged for 32. This is not the approach that airlines take today, in case you haven't noticed.

Many old airplanes are sent to desert boneyards. Some planes actually fly again and some end up in museums, while others are used for spare parts.  But a lot of them just sit out there and decay. There has been a trend in the last decade to convert shipping containers into housing; an airplane like this seems much more elegant and full of possibilities. I just can't decide if the cockpit should be the living room or the dining room.

SS Transylvania

In July 1931, Janet sailed off on the SS Transylvania.  If you look closely, you can see where she has designated her cabin on the front of the card.  In 1931, she could have bought passage in first, second, or third class. Here's her message to Mrs. James Bennett:

Thurs a.m.

Everything has been so exciting! I have a very nice cabin and the three other girls are nice too although I have met a New Haven girl I like very much - Have not met the conductor or hostess as yet but will after breakfast. Gifts and letters were being  left for me all afternoon and evening -  but yours were the only flowers. They gave me a real thrill and were packed so beautifully. I even found a large box of assorted nuts when I got in last night and today I see my folks! The sea is rolling a little but I like it so far. Keep well - and thanks for all you did to give me a fine send off -lovingly -Janet

I hope Janet's folks don't mind being mentioned in the same sentence as the box of assorted nuts.

The Transylvania was built in 1925 for the Anchor Line of Glasgow. In 1939, the ship was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an armed merchant cruiser for use in WWII. The HMS Transylvania was torpedoed and sunk in 1940 by a German submarine. The wreck remains upright and nearly intact on the seabed. You can see underwater pictures of it here.

Oddly enough, there was an earlier SS Transylvania passenger liner, built in 1914 by the Anchor Line. Guess what happened to her? Well, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and used as a troop ship for WWI. She was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in 1917. There may be a lesson here; it is either: 1. Don't name your ship the SS Transylvania, or 2. Don't let the military know that you have a passenger liner.  Well, maybe that's not it...what do you think?