League Park III-IV - Cleveland

"... The new park was enormous, capable of holding more than 70,000 fans, but the historical baseball headquarters of the city stood three miles away, in the shape of League Park, built in 1891 at the corner of Dunham Street (later East 66th) and Lexington Avenue. (It took its name from National League Park, at Cedar Avenue and East 49th, which had been the home field for the Cleveland Spiders between 1879 and 1884.) In the 1880s Cleveland was a city on the ascent. Home to luminaries like John D. Rockefeller, and host to a burgeoning port industry on Lake Erie, the expanding metropolis was served by several trolley companies competing for riders in the city’s eastern expansion. In 1887, as part of a court settlement resulting from a skirmish among rival rail firms, Frank DeHaas Robison, owner of the Cleveland City Railway Company, was awarded part-ownership of the Cleveland Forest Citys, an American Association team. In 1889 Robison’s team joined the National League, was rechristened the Spiders, and played in a ballpark at Euclid and Payne Avenues. A gifted businessman and opportunist, Robison and his brother Stanley elected to build a baseball park at their trolley stop at East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue, and move the team from Euclid and Payne, in an attempt to grow both ballpark attendance and trolley ridership."
SABR

"League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and E. 66th Street in the Hough neighborhood. It was home to the National League Cleveland Spiders, the American League Cleveland Indians, and the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro American League. Most of the structure was demolished in 1951, although some remnants still remain. League Park was opened on May 1, 1891, with 9,000 wooden seats.[2] The National League's Cleveland Spiders played there until going out of business after a disastrous 20–134 season in 1899 due to having their best players stripped from their roster by an unscrupulous owner. They were replaced the very next year by the Cleveland Lake Shores, which was initially a minor league team. In 1901, the renamed Cleveland Indians were a charter member in the new American League, which became a major league. The park was rebuilt for the 1910 season as a concrete-and-steel stadium—one of two to open that year in the American League, the other being Comiskey Park."
Wikipedia

"... This was actually the fourth stadium with the name 'League Park' on this site. The first preceding one (see Antique stadiums) was built in 1891, using wood as the primary construction material. It had the same right field dimension as the later version, and a similar overall configuration, but only one deck. The backstop screen was actually higher than the roof, extending down the first and thir base sides. (Save those balls!) The team owner also happened to own the local trolley line, and he built the ballpark along the Lexington Avenue line to create business 'synergy.' Interestingly, the name "League Park" remained the same, even after Cleveland was booted out of the National League in 1900 and became a charter member of the American League in 1901. (Which league??) The whole structure was rebuilt in time for the 1910 season, using concrete and structural steel and featuring an attractive red brick exterior. The diamond was rotated about two degrees clockwise from what it had been previously, but it was still about two degrees 'askew' -- in a counter-clockwise direction -- from alignment with the grandstand and exterior sides."
Clem's Baseball

Cleveland's League Park is the World's Oldest Major League Ballpark
"Cleveland's League Park has certain characteristics that place it into specific categories. It was originally built in 1891 as a wooden ballpark for the National League, Cleveland Spiders. The National League is recognized by Major League Baseball, and the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the “major leagues” that existed in history. In 1910, the wooden ballpark at League Park was raised, and a steel and concrete park was erected around the same field. The Cleveland Indians, of the American League, played there from 1901 until 1946."
Cleveland Area History

YouTube: Pitching Diamonds: Cy Young's First No-Hitter, September 18, 1897, League Park - The Past & Future Of Cleveland's Historic Ballpark, League Park: The History of a Neighborhood Ballpark