Photos: When Atlanta watched baseball at Ponce de Leon Park

Sports

Photos: When Atlanta watched baseball at Ponce de Leon Park

Fifty years ago, in 1966, the baseball landmark that was home to the Atlanta Crackers, and was fondly called "The Poncey," was demolished to make way for a shopping mall.

Before the Atlanta Braves, there were the Crackers. Before Turner Field, or even Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, there was Ponce de Leon Park - nestled in the shadow of the Sears & Roebuck's division headquarters - now Ponce City Market. Fifty years ago, in 1966, the baseball landmark was demolished to make way for a shopping mall. Here's what baseball looked like at "The Poncey":

Attendance at Ponce de Leon Park peaked in the 1940s as the team won four pennants in six years. The stadium, originally called Spiller Field before being renamed in 1932, had a seating capacity of 14,000.

Crowd at an Atlanta Crackers game in Ponce de Leon Park, circa late 1940s. The minor league baseball team played its last season at the ballpark in 1964. They moved to the Atlanta Stadium before disbanding upon the arrival of the Braves from Milwaukee. The Poncey also was home to the Atlanta Black Crackers, a Negro Leagues baseball club.

In the days of the Atlanta Crackers, a large magnolia tree stood in center field, on a terrace rising just above the playing level. Until the latter seasons at Ponce de Leon Park, when a scoreboard blocked it out, the tree was in play. The tree stands today at the top of the embankment on what is now the Atlanta Beltline.

In right field billboards rose in rows. The fence dimensions at Ponce de Leon Park were 330 feet in left field; 410 feet in center field and 462 feet in right.

Third baseman Ted Cieslak spent three seasons with the Crackers in the mid-1940s, hitting above .300 every year. In this view from home plate the rail line that ran adjacent to the wall behind right field is visible in background. The Atlanta Beltline sits there now.

A cameraman records the action from inside the WSB-TV booth overlooking Ponce de Leon Park in 1949. WSB-TV, and later WAGA-TV, broadcast Atlanta Crackers games.

Atlanta Crackers' Buck Riddle during practice in 1956. Riddle joined the Crackers as a power-hitting first baseman that season.

The Atlanta Crackers often outdrew a lot of the major league teams of the time. The teams hosted some noteworthy exhibition games, including showcases against the New York Yankees that brought Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth in to face the Crackers. The ballpark was the site of a number of college football games, along with mass meetings and religious revivals.

Attendance began to decline in the late 1950s. By 1961, the Atlanta Crackers were the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Earl Mann, known as "Mr. Atlanta Baseball," was involved with the Crackers dating back to 1924 and owned the team and Ponce de Leon Park for more than a decade starting in 1949. Mann died in 1990. His ashes were spread under magnolia tree that stood in center field.

After its days as home of the Atlanta Crackers, Ponce de Leon Park had a short life playing host to boxing matches and semi-pro football games. Earl Mann sold the 10-acre site for more than $1 million and it became the shopping center known Midtown Place.

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Before the Atlanta Braves, there were the Crackers. Before Turner Field, or even Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, there was Ponce de Leon Park - nestled in the shadow of the Sears & Roebuck's division headquarters - now Ponce City Market. Fifty years ago, in 1966, the baseball landmark was demolished to make way for a shopping mall. Here's what baseball looked like at "The Poncey":

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