Simmons Field
Encyclopedia
Simmons Field is a baseball
stadium
in Kenosha, Wisconsin
. The field is most notable for its use as the home field of the Kenosha Comets
of the
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
(AAGPBL).
baseball team's need for a field. The stadium's original capacity was 7,000 fans. The park allowed for growth of the company's Simmons Bedmakers team and provided a suitable venue city’s flourishing baseball rivalries.
The 1919 Chicago White Sox
-- the team later known as the Black Sox
-- even made plans to play against the Simmons team during the summer of 1920. However, a fire destroyed the wood grandstand in the stadium's inaugural season, and rumors persist to this day that supporters of the rival Nash Motor Company team started the Simmons fire.
The modern-day concrete grandstand was built in 1930. By that time, however, the city’s baseball teams had begun to decline despite a Midwest League championship for the Bedmakers in 1924.
In 1947, the Simmons Company sold the field and the city made it available for use by the city's women's professional baseball
team, the Kenosha Comets
the following year. The Comets, of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
(AAGPBL), had played in Kenosha at Lakefront Stadium since the league was founded in 1943. The team played at Simmons Field from 1948 until their final season in 1951. The AAGPBL folded three seasons later.
Throughout the ensuing decades, Simmons Field was used by little leagues, amateur leagues and for exhibition games. Notable baseball players to play at the stadium included Warren Spahn
, Bob Feller
and Satchel Paige
pitched
there. The Kenosha Pirates, a local semi-pro team, also played at Simmons Field during this era. But the stadium fell into disrepair without a major tenant.
Then in 1984, Kenosha native and former minor league
pitcher Bob Lee
transformed the old venue when he purchased the Minnesota Twins
Single-A Midwest League
affiliate and moved the team into Simmons Field. The move provided for approximately $350,000 worth of improvements to the field, including a new clubhouse, new in-ground dugouts, a new wood outfield fence, a new electronic scoreboard, concession facilities and aluminum bleachers along the third base line. Of these improvements only the clubhouse building, the concession buildings and the aluminum bleachers along the third base line remain today.
The Kenosha Twins played at Simmons Field for nine years, winning two Midwest League championships and producing more than a dozen major league players, including four players on the Minnesota Twins 1991 World Championship team. That World Championship team included American League
Rookie of the Year Chuck Knoblauch
and long-time Kenosha resident and current University of Wisconsin–Parkside head baseball coach Jarvis Brown
, who played for the Kenosha Twins in 1987 and 1988. Current Carthage College
head baseball coach Augie Schmidt also played at Simmons for the Twins in 1986, before retiring from professional baseball.
In July 1991, Chicago Cubs
legend Rick Sutcliffe pitched nine innings in an injury rehab start for the Peoria Chiefs
against the Twins at Simmons Field. A crowd of 4,387 attended that game, producing the largest crowd of the Bob Lee-era at Simmons. However, a decline in overall attendance and higher standards for minor league baseball facilities forced Lee to sell the team after the 1991 season. New ownership moved the team to Fort Wayne, Indiana
after the 1992 season.
The Kenosha Kings, a local semi-pro team, also took up residence at Simmons Field in 1984. The Kings currently compete in the Wisconsin State League and won the league’s championship in 2006. The Kings are in their 25th consecutive season at the stadium, the longest run of any team during the history of the ballpark.
During the 1990s, Simmons Field was home to amateur teams of high school and college talents, as well as the Kings. The locally-run Kenosha Chiefs semi-pro team also was the stadium’s primary tenant in 1993, and the Kenosha Kroakers of the collegiate summer Northwoods League
called Simmons home from 1994 to 1999.
In June 1998, Green Bay Packers
players also appeared at Simmons Field for a charity softball
game that also drew thousands of fans. And in August 1999, chart-topping pop group 'N Sync
also played a charity softball game at Simmons in front of roughly 2,800 fans.
In 2000, AAGPBL players returned to Simmons Field for a reunion and dozens of the former players dedicated a plaque to commemorate the AAGPBL’s time in Kenosha.
Simmons Field was home to professional baseball once more in 2003 when the Dubois County Dragons of the independent Frontier League
moved and became the Kenosha Mammoths. However, the Mammoths failed to attract large crowds and the team moved again after one season in Kenosha.
In 2007 the Kenosha Parks Department leased Simmons Field to the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD). KUSD has since leased the field to the Kenosha Simmons Baseball Organization (KSBO), a non-profit group working to upgrade and restore the stadium. Initial improvements included a rebuilt infield, which was completed in the fall of 2007, and a new electronic scoreboard behind left field.
In July 2008 the Mens Senior Baseball League (MSBL) of Kenosha organized the 2008 Women’s Hall of Fame Classic. This event hosted a large contingency of the AAGPBL players in a rededication of Simmons Field to women’s baseball. The event provided the best female baseball players in the country the opportunity to tryout for positions on the US team competing in the 2008 World Cup Games in Japan. The event was capped off with a five team international women’s baseball tournament featuring the Aussie Hearts, Chicago Pioneers, Nashua Pride, New England Red Sox and Washington Stars. The tournament was won by the Aussie Hearts coached by Kenosha native Rob Novotny.
, St. Joseph High School, MSBL Kenosha, the Kenosha Kings, the Kenosha American Legion
Post 21 Merchants and Kenosha Bobcats.
Despite its changes through the years, Simmons Field retains its classic feel. The historic grandstand behind home plate looks much like it did during the days of the AAGPBL and still evokes memories of the baseball greats who played in front of it. Indeed, Simmons Field is believed to be the last remaining field in its original configuration from the days of the AAGPBL.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
. The field is most notable for its use as the home field of the Kenosha Comets
Kenosha Comets
Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but later moved to Simmons Field.The Kenosha Comets were one...
of the
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...
(AAGPBL).
History
Simmons Field opened in Kenosha in 1920 with a seating capacity of 7,000 due to the Simmons Bedding Company'sSimmons Bedding Company
Simmons Bedding Company is a major manufacturer of mattresses and related bedding products. The company is founded in 1870. Simmons' flagship brand is Beautyrest, and it is one of the oldest companies of this type in the USA. According to a Simmons press release, net sales for 2005 were $855...
baseball team's need for a field. The stadium's original capacity was 7,000 fans. The park allowed for growth of the company's Simmons Bedmakers team and provided a suitable venue city’s flourishing baseball rivalries.
The 1919 Chicago White Sox
1919 Chicago White Sox season
The Chicago White Sox season was their 19th season in the American League. They won 88 games to advance to the World Series but lost to the Cincinnati Reds. More significantly, some of the players were found to have taken money from gamblers in return for throwing the series...
-- the team later known as the Black Sox
Black Sox Scandal
The Black Sox Scandal took place around and during the play of the American baseball 1919 World Series. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were banned for life from baseball for intentionally losing games, which allowed the Cincinnati Reds to win the World Series...
-- even made plans to play against the Simmons team during the summer of 1920. However, a fire destroyed the wood grandstand in the stadium's inaugural season, and rumors persist to this day that supporters of the rival Nash Motor Company team started the Simmons fire.
The modern-day concrete grandstand was built in 1930. By that time, however, the city’s baseball teams had begun to decline despite a Midwest League championship for the Bedmakers in 1924.
In 1947, the Simmons Company sold the field and the city made it available for use by the city's women's professional baseball
Women's baseball
Women's baseball is currently played in several countries. The strongest and most organized women's baseball leagues are in the United States, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Canada. Those countries have national governing bodies that support girls' and women's baseball programs...
team, the Kenosha Comets
Kenosha Comets
Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Kenosha Comets were a women's professional baseball team that played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The team played their home games at Kenosha's Lake Front Stadium, but later moved to Simmons Field.The Kenosha Comets were one...
the following year. The Comets, of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...
(AAGPBL), had played in Kenosha at Lakefront Stadium since the league was founded in 1943. The team played at Simmons Field from 1948 until their final season in 1951. The AAGPBL folded three seasons later.
Throughout the ensuing decades, Simmons Field was used by little leagues, amateur leagues and for exhibition games. Notable baseball players to play at the stadium included Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was an American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was age 42...
, Bob Feller
Bob Feller
On December 8, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy, volunteering immediately for combat service, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Feller served as Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama, and missed four seasons during his service...
and Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...
pitched
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
there. The Kenosha Pirates, a local semi-pro team, also played at Simmons Field during this era. But the stadium fell into disrepair without a major tenant.
Then in 1984, Kenosha native and former minor league
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
pitcher Bob Lee
Bob Lee (baseball)
Robert Dean Lee , is a former professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1964-1968. During his career he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles/California Angels, and Cincinnati Reds....
transformed the old venue when he purchased the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
Single-A Midwest League
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...
affiliate and moved the team into Simmons Field. The move provided for approximately $350,000 worth of improvements to the field, including a new clubhouse, new in-ground dugouts, a new wood outfield fence, a new electronic scoreboard, concession facilities and aluminum bleachers along the third base line. Of these improvements only the clubhouse building, the concession buildings and the aluminum bleachers along the third base line remain today.
The Kenosha Twins played at Simmons Field for nine years, winning two Midwest League championships and producing more than a dozen major league players, including four players on the Minnesota Twins 1991 World Championship team. That World Championship team included American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
Rookie of the Year Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch
Edward Charles "Chuck" Knoblauch is a retired Major League Baseball player. He played all or part of twelve seasons in the majors, from until , for the Minnesota Twins , New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals...
and long-time Kenosha resident and current University of Wisconsin–Parkside head baseball coach Jarvis Brown
Jarvis Brown
Jarvis Ardel Brown was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, and Baltimore Orioles. He won the World Series with the Twins.-Career:...
, who played for the Kenosha Twins in 1987 and 1988. Current Carthage College
Carthage College
Carthage College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Situated in Kenosha, Wisconsin midway between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the campus is on the shore of Lake Michigan and is home to 2,500 full-time and 900 part-time...
head baseball coach Augie Schmidt also played at Simmons for the Twins in 1986, before retiring from professional baseball.
In July 1991, Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
legend Rick Sutcliffe pitched nine innings in an injury rehab start for the Peoria Chiefs
Peoria Chiefs
The Peoria Chiefs are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, from Peoria, Illinois. They play in the Midwest League....
against the Twins at Simmons Field. A crowd of 4,387 attended that game, producing the largest crowd of the Bob Lee-era at Simmons. However, a decline in overall attendance and higher standards for minor league baseball facilities forced Lee to sell the team after the 1991 season. New ownership moved the team to Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
after the 1992 season.
The Kenosha Kings, a local semi-pro team, also took up residence at Simmons Field in 1984. The Kings currently compete in the Wisconsin State League and won the league’s championship in 2006. The Kings are in their 25th consecutive season at the stadium, the longest run of any team during the history of the ballpark.
During the 1990s, Simmons Field was home to amateur teams of high school and college talents, as well as the Kings. The locally-run Kenosha Chiefs semi-pro team also was the stadium’s primary tenant in 1993, and the Kenosha Kroakers of the collegiate summer Northwoods League
Northwoods League
The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of the top college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate...
called Simmons home from 1994 to 1999.
In June 1998, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
players also appeared at Simmons Field for a charity softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
game that also drew thousands of fans. And in August 1999, chart-topping pop group 'N Sync
'N Sync
N Sync was an American boy band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich, *NSYNC consisted of JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick...
also played a charity softball game at Simmons in front of roughly 2,800 fans.
In 2000, AAGPBL players returned to Simmons Field for a reunion and dozens of the former players dedicated a plaque to commemorate the AAGPBL’s time in Kenosha.
Simmons Field was home to professional baseball once more in 2003 when the Dubois County Dragons of the independent Frontier League
Frontier League
The Frontier League, based in Sauget, Illinois, is a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Midwestern United States, Western Pennsylvania, and Southern Ontario. It operates mostly in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either...
moved and became the Kenosha Mammoths. However, the Mammoths failed to attract large crowds and the team moved again after one season in Kenosha.
In 2007 the Kenosha Parks Department leased Simmons Field to the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD). KUSD has since leased the field to the Kenosha Simmons Baseball Organization (KSBO), a non-profit group working to upgrade and restore the stadium. Initial improvements included a rebuilt infield, which was completed in the fall of 2007, and a new electronic scoreboard behind left field.
In July 2008 the Mens Senior Baseball League (MSBL) of Kenosha organized the 2008 Women’s Hall of Fame Classic. This event hosted a large contingency of the AAGPBL players in a rededication of Simmons Field to women’s baseball. The event provided the best female baseball players in the country the opportunity to tryout for positions on the US team competing in the 2008 World Cup Games in Japan. The event was capped off with a five team international women’s baseball tournament featuring the Aussie Hearts, Chicago Pioneers, Nashua Pride, New England Red Sox and Washington Stars. The tournament was won by the Aussie Hearts coached by Kenosha native Rob Novotny.
Current usage
Today, Simmons Field continues to be called home by various high school, recreational and amateur baseball teams, including Tremper High School, Bradford High SchoolMary D. Bradford High School
Bradford High School is a high school that serves students in grades 9 to 12 located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is the primary high school for students on the north side of the city.-History:...
, St. Joseph High School, MSBL Kenosha, the Kenosha Kings, the Kenosha American Legion
American Legion Baseball
American Legion Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played by teenage boys in 50 states in the USA. More than five thousand teams participate each year. The American Legion Department of South Dakota established the program in 1925 at Milbank, South Dakota...
Post 21 Merchants and Kenosha Bobcats.
Despite its changes through the years, Simmons Field retains its classic feel. The historic grandstand behind home plate looks much like it did during the days of the AAGPBL and still evokes memories of the baseball greats who played in front of it. Indeed, Simmons Field is believed to be the last remaining field in its original configuration from the days of the AAGPBL.