
In 1916 the St. Louis Browns practiced there for Spring Training. Eventually the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals & A.L. New York club all came to St. Petersburg. Over the next decade he was able to lure in nine of the then, twelve MLB teams.
In 1947 the City of St. Petersburg opened up Al Lang Stadium named in his honor, The St. Louis Cardinals & the A.L. New York team were the first to play there. By 1951 the New York Giants joined the party. The A.L. team would play there through 1961, with the exception of 1951 season. The Cardinals remained there until 1997, sharing the facility with the New York Mets during the eighties hey day of the two teams rivalry.
In 1963 the former Crescent Lake Field was renamed Huggins - Stengel Field, named after former Manager; Miller Huggins & then current Mets skipper Casey Stengel. The Mets would practice there & then play their games down the road at Al Lang Stadium.
The area grew through the years to the moder day city it has become. Early on former VP of the Mets Minor League Development & future Cardinal Manger; Whitey Herzog, recalls rarely seeing a woman unfer 50 years old & how the boys went crazy if they did. Former Italian American Player / Broadcaster; Joe Garagiolia remembered taking ferries over to Sarasota, since in St. Pete the only place to really go out at night was the famous Dog Track.
Former Mets World Champion Short Stop Bud Harrelson remembers, being a 19 year old kid in Florida for the first time. Veteran Mets pitcher, Tracy Stallard took him to a dog track even though he still didn't drink or gamble, showing him the ropes of being a big leaguer.
Former Mets coach & Manager Yogi Berra said he knew one of the dog track's owners & had a dog named after him- Yogi Berra.
Bud Harrelson also recalls buying his Superman t-shirts at a small shop in St. Pete, I guess most famously the one he wore after the fight with Pete Rose in the 1973 NLCS.

Former Mets manager played there as a member of the Cards & the Mets for many years. He said it was the only place where he ever hit three HRs in a game, including little league. Players remembered if a HR was hit into the Bay, a bunch of kids would dive into the water to chase it.

It was also the place where in 1975 Cleon Jones got caught up in an affair which started the demise of his baseball career.
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