FIRST Game Played at Jacob's Field (Progressive Field) - Cleveland Indians Stub

First EVER game played at Jacob's Field. Ticket stub for the exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates just prior to opening day of the regular season.

See below for additional details about this game, and please reach out with any questions. Thanks for looking!

-----

From News Herald:

It is a historic moment all but forgotten in the annals of Jacobs Field and Progressive Field.

On April 2, 1994, the Indians hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exhibition game.

The game did not count in the standings and was sure to be eclipsed two days later when President Bill Clinton would be guest of honor as the Indians and Seattle Mariners played the regular-season opener.

Still, there was considerable anticipation for the first game scheduled in the the $169 million downtown ballpark that held the promise of ushering in a new era of big-league baseball in Cleveland.

Although the first pitch wouldn’t be made until 1:05 p.m., fans in substantial numbers began gathering outside the ballpark by 10 a.m. on that Saturday.

Many of the onlookers came equipped with video recorders and/or cameras.

Eagerness and curiosity had much to do with the early arrivals. Fans were eager to finally get inside the structure that had been rising for two years at one of the busiest intersections in downtown Cleveland.

All tickets had been sold months in advance, guaranteeing a crowd in excess of 40,000. On the streets near the ballparks, ticket scalpers were asking for and getting as much as $80 for a ticket.

That is not exorbitant by today’s standards, but consider that $14 was the marked price of lower box seats for the game.

The weather gods cooperated nicely. Winds gusted up to 15 mph, but temperatures in the mid 60s were quite mild by standards applied to Northeast Ohio weather in early April.

The particulars of the game were unremarkable. The Pirates won, 6-4, in 10 innings.

Veteran right-hander Charles Nagy was the starting pitcher for the Indians. He was effective, limiting the Pirates to one run and three hits in five innings.

The Pirates got a run in the top of the ninth to pull into a 4-4 tie. They got two more runs in the top of the 10th inning. One scored on a throwing error by Indians third baseman Jim Thome, the other on a fielding error by promising rookie Manny Ramirez on a wind-blown fly ball.

Kevin Lyons of Chardon was one of the 40,523 fans in the stands that day.

“I was sitting behind the visitors’ dugout in awe,” Lyons wrote in an email. “I’m afraid I missed much of the game, just looking around in child-like wonderment. It was a day I will never forget. That is the finest ballpark I have ever been in and it has stood the test of time. The place still gives me chills every time I enter it.”

Gregory J. Viviani of Kirtland also has fond memories of being in the ballpark that day.

“I was fortunate enough to get an invite to our firm’s loge that day. That was pretty cool,” Viviani wrote in an email. “I remember being very impressed with the Park and the new field. Everything was shiny and new, in stark contrast to the old CLE Municipal Stadium (working bathrooms!).

“The thing that struck me the most was how close you were to the action on the field. The old stadium of course was kind of round, and had lots of foul ground, a look today only seen at the Oakland Coliseum. Plus, no poles!”

Jim Folk joined the Indians front office in 1992 as director of ballpark operations. He was on the construction site every working day for two years, seeing to details large and small that would matter so much when the ballpark opened for business.

Folk, now the vice president of ballpark operations, said in a recent interview he was a man in constant motion before, during and after the exhibition game.

“I probably walked 10 miles that day,” Folk said, smiling. “The game against the Pirates gave us a chance to see how the ballpark worked for fans and allowed us to make the players comfortable with what they were dealing with now.

“We put a lot of theories to the test that day,” Folk added. “The experiences we had as a staff that day certainly made it much easier for the Seattle game.”

The relative ease with which traffic was handled on the streets around the ballpark before and after the game was reassuring, Folk said.