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Built in 1923 and known as Ruppert Stadium and later Blues Stadium before being sold to the city, it was home to the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs and the minor league Kansas City Blues until the Athletics moved from Philadelphia. The arrival of ML baseball prompted the addition of a tall second deck to the grandstand and the centerfield scoreboard came from Boston's Braves Field. Eccentric A's owner Charlie Finley later installed a host of unique features and gadgets, including a small zoo behind the right-field fence that housed a mule named Charlie O. (the team mascot), a compressed-air device that blew dirt off the plate from below, and a mechanical rabbit that rose out of the ground with new baseballs for the umpire. (SCL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 31, 1932: Cleveland plays its first game in new Municipal Stadium before a crowd in excess of 80,000 (paid attendance of 76,979), but Mel Harder loses to the A's Lefty Grove 1-0 on Cochrane's RBI single. » August 1, 1932: The Indians drop another 1-0 game to the A's at Municipal Stadium, as Rube Walberg beats Wes Ferrell. » July 8, 1935: The AL continues its All-Star Game reign, winning the third event, at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium 4-1. Jimmie Foxx is the hitting star with a homer and three RBI. » July 4, 1944: Baltimore's Oriole Park, erected in 1914 for the Federal League, burns down. The team moves to the city's unroofed Municipal Stadium. It will be used this way until a second tier is added when the St. Louis Browns move in for the 1954 season. » July 10, 1947: In a rain-interrupted game before 47,871, Don Black of the Cleveland Indians pitches a no-hitter, beating the Philadelphia Athletics 3-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. It is the first no-hitter at Municipal Stadium. » December 31, 1949: The 1940s is the only decade in ML baseball history in which no new stadiums are built. After Cleveland opened Municipal Stadium in 1932, no new ballpark will be opened until County Stadium in Milwaukee is unveiled in 1953. » June 17, 1960: A 2-run HR off Wynn Hawkins at Cleveland Municipal Stadium makes Ted Williams the fourth player in major-league history to hit 500 HRs. The Red Sox win 3-1. » July 11, 1960: One-hit shutout pitching by Bob Friend and HRs by Ernie Banks and Del Crandall pace the NL to a 5-4 win over the AL at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium in the first of two All-Star Games. Friend has notched two of the NL's last three All-Star wins. » August 20, 1961: At Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, both Mantle and Maris homer in the twinbill sweep. Mantle's first inning three run homer, and Maris ' 9th in the 3rd inning to make it easy for Ralph Terry. In the nitecap, Bill Skowron hits his 21st in the 2nd inning and the Yanks win 5–2. In the 6th, after Bell allows a single and then hits Gardner and Maris, Mantle collects his 101st walk to force home a run. » June 4, 1968: Ewing Kauffman signs a 4-year lease for the Royals to play in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium.