Elvis, Pele and Willie Stargell: a short history of PGE Park

Aaron Fentress has a fun piece in the Sports section of today's Oregonian (the section I always read first): a timeline of major events, both sports and non-sports related, held at PGE Park.

Events were first held on the grounds here in 1893, but it was more officially christened as a stadium, Multnomah Stadium, in 1926, from a design by renowned Portland architect A.E. Doyle. In the 1930s, it was a popular spot for greyhound racing. In the 1950s, the Portland Beavers moved there from their stadium on Vaughn Street. And that's just the start, my friends.

Here is Fentress's timeline for the stadium, with a few parenthetical notes of my own:

1908: Oregon and Oregon Agricultural College (later Oregon State) meet in a football game on the field for the first time. (Brian's note: OAC was unofficially known as "Moo U.")

1909: Steel grandstands are built and President William H. Taft visits with 20,000 school children. (Brian's note: Taft, history's fattest US president, reportedly takes up an entire row of seats.)

1923: Years after more seating is added, President Warren G. Harding appears for a speech. (Brian's note: this was on the heels of Harding's "Teapot Dome" scandal. The Sam Adams of his time?)

1930: The University of Oregon football team beats Washington 7-0 before a record crowd of 35,266. (Brian's note: Go Ducks! And as my dad often says, Huck the Fuskies!) 

1931: Former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey spars with four opponents in a series of two-round exhibitions. (Brian's note: Randy Leonard was not involved.)

1935: First NFL exhibition game is played at the stadium between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cardinals. (Brian's note: It's a little known fact the Cardinals have been based in 34 different cities.)

1948: A crowd of 8,000 turns out for a show featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. (Brian's note: The show undoubtedly must have been called "The Road to Portland" - and sponsored by Texaco.)

1955: During an exhibition, the Los Angeles Rams defeat the New York Giants 23-17 in first NFL overtime game. (Brian's note: the Rams were led by former Oregon Ducks quarterback and future Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin.)

1957: Elvis Presley performs a concert in the infield before 14,600. (Brian's note: It's somehow fitting, although in a way I can't pinpoint, that The Beatles played Memorial Coliseum and Elvis played the stadium.)

1958: Willie Mays leads the San Francisco Giants against the Beavers in an exhibition game. (Brian's note: Say hey!)

1974: The Portland Storm in the first year, the Portland Thunder the next, bring the World Football League to the stadium. (Brian's note: where can I get a Portland Thunder t-shirt?)

1977: In soccer star Pele's last professional game, the New York Cosmos beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 in front of 35,548 in the North American Soccer League's championship game. (Brian's note: the annoying tradition of single-named Brazilian soccer players began soon after.) The photo below was provided by reader Stephen Himes, whose father snapped the picture of Pele playing at the actual Civic Stadium game.

1980: The 1979 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates play an exhibition game against the Beavers, drawing 26,912, a year after Pirates slugger Willie Stargell slammed a ball onto the balcony of the Multnomah Athletic Club during a home run contest before an exhibition game. (Brian's note: Aaron - why not just note the 1979 Stargell homer game instead of the 1980 game?)

1985: Another short-lived professional football league, the United States Football League with the Portland Breakers, calls the stadium home and draws crowds approaching 20,000. But, alas, the league lasts only one season. (Brian's note: Go Marcus Dupree! The only Oklahoma Sooner I ever liked. And the Breakers' best jhery curl.)

1992: Evangelist Billy Graham holds a five-day event that draws nearly a quarter-million people.

1997: In the first of a series of matches related to the World Cup, the U.S. men's soccer team defeats Costa Rica 1-0 in front of 27,396.

1999: The U.S. women's soccer team beats Canada 4-2 in front of 23,325 in its final game before the World Cup. 

2002: San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners play an exhibition game in front of 19,778. (Brian's note: fans expecting to see future Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Randy Johnson are disappointed. But at least it's the major leagues.)

2003: Three doubleheaders are held during the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup.

I also remember attending another somewhat historic baseball game Fentress didn't mention. In 1983, fresh off winning the World Series against Baltimore, the Philadelphia Phillies played an exhibition against the Beavers. I remember excitedly watching the team's two Hall of Fame stars, Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose, competing for the Phillies. (Yes, I know Rose is not technically in the Hall, but obviously if not for the gambling he'd have been in Cooperstown on the first ballot.) But my greatest excitement was reserved for relief pitcher Tug McGraw, he of the sparkle-covered cleats. However, if I'd known he'd be responsible for country music star Tim McGraw, my allegiances might have been different.

In the controversy over MLS coming to Portland and necessitating a Beavers move to another stadium, with Memorial Coliseum becoming threatened along the way, we may have lost sight of the architecture of PGE Park and how it will change. Although the stadium has lots of history, it's never been an esteemed work of architecture. Portland Timbers and Beavers owner Merritt Paulson has the chance to bring the stadium a great design. And while I think that will be achieved when it comes to fan amenities and experiences -- seats close to the field, more luxurious concourses -- I'm not sure if there's anything about the design itself that will excite people. (Initial plans have been drawn up by Kansas City-based Ellerbe Becket, one of the nation's largest and most prolific stadium designers. They also did the Autzen Stadium expansion.) But there's still time for that to change.

Comments

[eric cantona]

a seagull pooped on my shoulder during the first hals of the '77 NASL final. other than that it was epic.

the '97 match against Costa Rico (Ramos!!!) ranks up there as well.

can't wait to see what becomes of a baseball-free civic stadium. hopefuly Paulson can find some DESIGNERS to help Ellerbe Crappet. they are bloody-fooking-awful.

[eric cantona]

has anyone seen any plans/drawings of the proposed renovations? we've all seen the colored rendering for the original MLS2PDX push (with the "land of the rising sun" field), but i have to believe that there are more concrete plans SOMWHERE. would love to get a gander at those.

maybe some architecture blogger could find them and post them somewhere...

[Jeff]

I have a question regarding seating capacity. I believe for years the stadium held around 27,000. The crowds for the Timbers in the 1970's and for Soccer Bowl I recall had temporary bleachers set up to seat the 33,000 to 35,000 fans.

Then when the remodel was done to make it into PGE Park a few years ago I thought the capacity was closer to 25,000. However last week when the Sounders played the Timbers they announced it as a sell-out - of around 16,000.

Does anyone know the hard-figures for total seating capacity current and proposed?

[ws]

Jeff...wikipedia has an article on PGE Park...says: "Baseball / Soccer: 19,566... Concerts: 23,136".

10,000 more people in there must make it very cozy.

[paul]

I believe that the official capacity is somewhere around 20k, but as Merritt stated before the Timbers-Sounders match, and if you were there and experienced it for yourself, anything beyond 15K is extremely taxing to the stadium's infrastructure. That is why the ticket sales were capped at 16K for the game - they had to turn people away on gameday, but most of these folks ended up staying and watching the match from up on the plaza along 18th Ave. anyway. Part of the reason why the separation of baseball and soccer is needed is to allow for the much needed infrastructure expansion to accommodate larger crowds. You can't simply add extra seats and expect to provide a quality fan experience with the infrastructure currently in place. I was at the Mariners vs Beavers exhibition game a few years back, and it was practically impossible to get to concessions or to a bathroom. Think sardines in the seats, and salmon trying to swim upstream in the concourses. :)

I haven't seen any updated plans either, but I'm sure they are right around the corner. The last that I heard, and I may be wrong, but i believe that the proposed seating capacity is supposed to be somewhere in the 23-26k range, with updated infrastructure to accommodate those numbers. Can't wait to see what is being proposed!

[ws]

I rarely read Jack Bog's blog, but, not a lot to do today so...there's an article: 'New stands at PGE Park will be uncomfortable' with some things that caught my interest. The article is mainly reader Peter Apanel's thoughts rather than Bog's.

Among other things he notes: In his opinion... the seats will be too narrow and too close together; a roof is planned for those seats that isn't necessary; additional urinals are planned (what about the girls !), but not enough to accomodate additional hoped for attendance.

He explains those concerns in more detail than I have here.

[billb]

Hey I recall seeing one of the best baseball players of all time
there ,Ichiro!
Oh and a note to the Designers , I won't go to sports events , if the seats are 16 inches wide.... Surely , Commish Randy understands the 'width issue'

[dave]

There are supposed to be the plans for the remodel:
http://bojack.org/2009/07/liars_budget_and_drawings_on_p.html

What concerns me the most is the plan to eliminate the open gate on 18th and add a roof to the new stands along 18th. I really think it would be unfortunate to go back to the old days when we had a big ugly wall on 18th.

If room for new concessions stand is needed, then fence off the entry plazas on both sides of the stadium. IIRC the Angels in Anaheim do something along this this.

[val]

I have great memories of seeing aging stars Luis Tiant and Willie Horton at the stadium c.1980 along with an up and coming Tony Pena - all the while wearing one of those stylin'plastic novelty batting helmets!