Thursday, November 25, 2010

Mystery History -- Solved!


Mike wins with his 10:35 a.m. Tuesday guess "It is Spring Training at the baseball field at Brookside Park (now Jackie Robinson Memorial Field). Early 1930's. Folks on the left are Chicago White Sox players and the young ladies -- maybe the Rose Court?"

In the photo above, shot on March 9, 1938, by a Pasadena Post photographer, members of the Chicago White Sox baseball team toss oversized balls with some young women at Brookside Park during a media event.

The team was in town for their annual spring training, which was to have begun on March 3 but was delayed due to a serious flood.

Relentless heavy rains had poured over the L.A. region non-stop beginning Feb. 27. By March 3 a flood had spilled over the banks of the Arroyo Seco channel.

Damage to Brookside Golf Course was tremendous:




Luckily Brookside Park didn't fare as badly, but the baseball field was too soaked from the rains for White Sox play. Spring training began after it dried out a bit.

My very first Mystery History post was about the Chicago White Sox in Pasadena.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library.

3 comments:

Jean Spitzer said...

I love this. And the earliest mystery history too! Happy Thanksgiving.

Bellis said...

Interesting pictures of the floods. I didn't click that it was Brookside Park because there seemed to be a Xmas tree plantation in the background. I guess that's now part of Kidspace? Most of the trees have gone, but some deodars are hanging on - fewer each year.

Petrea Burchard said...

Congratulations, Mike!

And a very interesting post, Ann, thank you.

I can't resist pointing out that the Arroyo Seco does flood.