Worcester Driving Park Grounds
Located in Worcester, Massachusetts

Stadiums Boston/New England Worcester Driving Park Grounds

The Fairgrounds was home to an agricultural fair and to a horse trotting race track, usually called the Driving Park. "Driving" was a commonly used synonym for trotting, long before the term "driving" came to be associated primarily with the not-yet-invented automobile. The grounds are known today mainly as the home ballpark of the National League's Worcester Worcesters from 1880-82. (As a major league ballpark it is usually referred to as Agricultural County Fair Grounds or Worcester Driving Park.) On June 12, 1880, Worcester pitcher Lee Richmond threw the first perfect game in major league history. There is a granite post commemorating the perfect game on the Becker College campus. The park was also the site of the first, true major league double-header. For the price of a single game, Worcester fans saw two games against the Providence Grays on September 25, 1882. The last game for the local major league club was played on September 29, 1882, with Troy defeating Worcester, 10–7, after which the park was torn down. But it was not the last big-league game in Worcester; five years later, on August 17, 1887, a new Driving Park hosted a National League game between Washington and Boston. "Honest" John Gaffney, later the "King of Umpires," who had been hired the year before as Washington's manager, had the game transferred to Worcester, where he had grown up. (Boston won, 6-5.)

Field Details

Name Worcester Driving Park Grounds

Style Open Grounds
Wooden Structure

Capacity Unknown

Surface Grass

Exterior Lights None

Outfield Unknown

Location Worcester, MA

Links

Find stadium collectibles on eBay

Known As

Worcester Driving Park Grounds 1880‑1882

Agricultural County Fair Grounds (alternate)

Teams

Ruby Legs (NL) 1880-1882

F i l t e r & S o r t

Field Details

Name Worcester Driving Park Grounds

Style Open Grounds
Wooden Structure

Capacity Unknown

Surface Grass

Exterior Lights None

Outfield Unknown

Location Worcester, MA

Links

Find stadium collectibles on eBay

Known As

Worcester Driving Park Grounds 1880‑1882

Agricultural County Fair Grounds (alternate)

Teams

Ruby Legs (NL) 1880-1882

Recap

Field Details

Known As

Teams