Joe Tinker and the Original Stadium

Orlando celebrated Opening Day at Tinker Field on April 19, 1923, when businesses closed at noon for a city holiday, the gates opened at 2:45, Mayor Duckworth gave the dedication, and more than 1,700 fans from across Central Florida watched the Minor League Orlando Bulldogs defeat the Lakeland Highlanders 3-1. The Cincinnati Reds had already chosen Tinker Field as their winter training home beginning in February 1924, and a Cincinnati sportswriter judged it finer than any other Minor League ballpark he had seen. In January 1923, the Orlando Athletic Association began plans for a sports complex outside the western city limits as a modern baseball and multi-purpose athletic field. Local reporters started calling the 16-acre tract Tinker’s Field after Joe Tinker, the retired Chicago Cubs shortstop and president of the Orlando Athletic Association, and the name remained. The Orlando Morning Sentinel reported that the grandstand would be modern in every way and that every seat was designed to provide a clear, unobstructed view of the baseball diamond. Along with the wooden grandstands, bleachers were set aside by race, with the left field bleachers reserved for White persons and the right field bleachers for Negroes. In time, Tinker Field became the primary stage for introducing racial integration in Orlando. The Orlando Athletic Association also envisioned it as a park uniting athletic interests, opening the field to schools for track and field meets and encouraging interstate football contests, and its creation left lasting legacies for the city.

Orlando, Florida · United States