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Dawson Springs' Riverside Park, sometimes called Tradewater Park, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914 to 1917. This is the only known baseball park in Kentucky to have hosted a major league team since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899. While the original stadium was destroyed in a flood in the 1930s, it was later rebuilt in 1999. The park was reconstructed out of wood, just like the original stadium. It is the only ballpark of its kind in Western Kentucky. Riverside Park is now home to the Tradewater Pirates. Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, who trained on this field for 3 years, organized a team of local young boys known as "Honus Wagners' Young Recruits." Babe Ruth, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Casey Stengel, and Ty Cobb also played baseball in Dawson Springs. ==History== Dawson Springs is home to a mineral spring that was believed by many to have medical healing qualities. This led to Dawson Springs becoming a huge resort town. Thousands of people came to drink and bathe in the spring. Forty hotels sprung up to accommodate the health seekers. The large crowds that came to Dawson Springs was one of the reasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates to make it their spring training home. Riverside Park was built in 1914 and served as the Spring Training Home of the Pirates from 1914 until 1917, when they moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. The entire ballpark was made entirely from wood, from the grandstand to the dugout. Local citizens then constructed a large indoor pavilion for spring training and exhibition games and an additional wing was built onto the New Century Hotel to accommodate the players. Some records from the era show that the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds also played expedition games there until the early 1920s. Teams came from all around to test the Pirates. They consisted of other major league squads, American Association teams, colleges, semi-pro teams, and even teams formed by local mining companies and businesses. Some teams came all the way from St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia, as well as minor league squads from Columbus, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio to play at Riverside Park. However, once professional baseball left Dawson Springs, Riverside Park, while still hosting many local teams, among them members of the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League (the Kitty League), continued to provide baseball for western Kentucky. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Riverside Park, Dawson Springs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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