Griffith Stadium

Night time, 1941. Senators versus Tigers with George Kell at the plate and a 2-2 count. The windup... the lights go out. Seconds later the lights turn back on and every player, the batter, and the umpire are all laying on flat on the ground.

On the mound is the pitcher standing tall. Why? He was the only one who knew that the ball had not been pitched. This, and countless other great stories, took place at Griffith Stadium until its destruction in 1965.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"There is no sound in baseball akin to the sound of Mantle hitting a home run, the crunchy sound of an axe biting into a tree, yet magnified a hundred times in the vast, cavernous, echo making hollows of a ball field." - Arnold Hano in Baseball Stars of 1958

Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium

Major League Occupant(s)

Washington Senators First Game 04-12-1911
Last Game 10-02-1960
Washington Senators First Game 04-10-1961
Last Game 09-21-1961

Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium

Ballpark Capacity

Capacity Changes
(Yearly Attendance 1)
(Yearly Attendance 2)
1921 32,000
1936 30,171
1939 31,500
1940 29,473
1941 29,613
1947 29,000
1948 25,048
1952 35,000
1960 28,669
1961 27,550

Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium

Ballpark Dimensions

Backstop 1911 61'
Left Field 1911 407'
1921 424'
1926 358'
1936 402'
1947 405'
1950 386'
1951 408'
1952 405'
1954 388'
1956 386'
1957 350'
1961 388'
Left Center 1911 391'
1950 372'
Center Field 1911 421'
Right Center 1911 378'
1955 372'
1956 373'
Right Field 1911 328'
1921 326'
1926 328'
1955 320'

Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium

Miscellaneous Items of Interest

Field Surface Grass
Highest Attendance 38,701 10-11-1925
Griffith Stadium
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Did you know that on September 7, 1954, a Griffith Stadium record small four-hundred sixty-one (461) baseball fans appeared for a game versus the Philadelphia Athletics? Too easy? Did you know that it was actually a downhill run from home plate to first base?

A fifty-six foot tall National Bohemian beer bottle sign stood in left field at Griffith Stadium and Mickey Mantle nicked the sign with the only home run ball (pictured below) hit completely over the left field bleachers.

Durings its history, several U.S. Presidents threw out the first pitch at Griffith Stadium — a Washington, D.C. tradition that might return due to the return of the Nationals in 2005. Griffith Stadium was demolished in 1965, but not before being burnt badly in a fire on March 17, 1911, rebuilt by July 24, 1911, and hosting both the 1937 All-Star Game & 1956 All-Star Game.