De Quesada - Baseball in Tampa Bay

A sandlot in St. Petersburg caters to a game of baseball in 1904. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

This Fourth of July baseball game was played in Oldsmars public park in 1919. The Wayside Inn is in the background. (Courtesy of Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.)

Prior to the construction of Dunedins Grant Field in the 1930s, young boys used a sandlot baseball field near the present-day location of Morton-Plant Mease Hospital. Here, a Dunedin youngster takes ground field practice before a game begins in the 1920s. (Courtesy of Dunedin Historical Museum.)

The Clearwater High School baseball team was comprised of Clearwater and Dunedin boys. Due to the fact that Dunedin did not have a high school until the 1960s, many of the young boys of Dunedin played in Clearwater uniforms. Notice that the negative for this print was reversed, showing the CW backwards, c . 1920s. (Courtesy of Dunedin Historical Museum.)

Members of a 1900s Largo baseball team, shown wearing the Chicago-style pillbox hats and collared shirts, pose in a winning stance after a successful game against another local team. Notice that the center player in the bottom row displays the winning score card. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

A Clearwater baseball team posed for this photograph about 1914. Notice the PC, representing Pinellas County, on some of the players shirts. Pinellas County had just formally separated from Hillsborough County in 1912. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

Edward H. Eckert (center) is flanked by Little Leaguers from teams sponsored by the Bank of Dunedin, the chamber of commerce, the jaycees, and the rotary club. Little League baseball was started in Dunedin in 1954 by the Dunedin Jaycees. The four teams formed by the above organizations played their games at Fisher Field. A second league, called the American League, was formed in 1960 and played at Grant Field. (Courtesy of Dunedin Historical Museum.)

Members of a Clearwater baseball team enjoy a day of ball games while wearing womens clothing to amuse the crowd of spectators, c . 1895. This was not an unusual practice by local teams, as other teams would perform similar stunts to attract crowds to the games. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

An early 1900s view of a St. Petersburg team shows them wearing the logo SP on their shirt pockets. If one were to take notice of the names under the photo, one would see that many pioneering families in Pinellas County had young boys who were interested in the game of baseball. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

This is one of the first photos to show Dunedins early interest in baseball. The photo from the early 1880s shows seven team members posing after a game of townball. Captain Fred Emerson (top row, second from right) displays the scorecard. Home plate is to the left of the group, and team members on the bottom row hold the bat. (Courtesy of Dunedin Historical Museum.)

A crowd of spectators watches a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Browns in St. Petersburg, c . 1915. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

Waterfront Field in St. Petersburg was used by the Boston Braves during the 1920s. (Courtesy of Pinellas County Historical Museum.)

Members of the Tampa baseball club display their uniforms from the 1890s. Tampa initiated baseball clubs starting in the early 1880s, and many young boys from prominent Tampa families participated in the game. In this photo, Samuel Lowry is fourth from the left. (Courtesy of Special Collections, University of South Florida.)