Fabled field

Bisbee’s Warren Ballpark may be the nation’s oldest baseball field — and certainly one of the most colorful.

Mike Anderson, Friends of Warren Ballpark founder, says the first game played in the ballpark with a wooden grandstand was in 1909 when Bisbee hosted the El Paso Browns. It’s been in continuous use ever since with baseball, football, rugby, soccer and other community events.

The Bisbee High School Pumas play their home baseball and football games here. Bisbee’s football rivalry with the Douglas Bulldogs is one of Arizona’s oldest.

Warren Ballpark was also used as a holding pen for an illegal round-up and deportation of 1,500 striking miners and their sympathizers. They were loaded in box cars and shipped to Columbus, N.M. on July 12, 1917.

The original wooden grandstand was replaced by an adobe grandstand by the Works Project Administration in 1936. Lights were added in 1939.

Members of the disgraced 1919 Chicago White Sox played at Warren Ballpark after they were banned from the majors for gambling against their team in the World Series. Several Hall of Famers also played here in “barnstorming” games, including John McGraw, Connie Mack and Honus Wagner.

Warren Ballpark is one of many Arizona venues with deep baseball history and remarkable stories. Look for more details soon on our website.