Home of
baseball's Cleveland Indians. Opened in 1994, replacing
Cleveland Stadium. Often referred to as "
The Jake." One of the most successful
ballparks built in the 1990s.
In the mid-80s, the Cleveland Indians realized the need to replace Cleveland Stadium ("The Mistake By the Lake," more suited to the NFL's Cleveland Browns than the Indians) with a friendlier and smaller ballpark. The plan for Jacobs Field was similar to the Baltimore Orioles' plan for Oriole Park at Camden Yards: an asymmetrical nostalgic park opening onto a scenic downtown area.
The ballpark features, in addition to a large number of luxury boxes: a 19-foot wall in left field hosting a Fenway Park-style out of town scoreboard; a small park and picnic area outside the centerfield fence (similar to Camden Yards); an enormous video scoreboard in centerfield; and a statue of Hall of Famer Bob Feller guarding the entrance to the park.
The new stadium was extremely popular with fans, and its opening coincided with a string of winning years by the Indians. As a result, Jacobs Field had a remarkable string of 455 consecutive sellouts, spanning 7 baseball seasons.
Jacobs Field has hosted two World Series, in 1995 and 1997; and one All-Star game, in 1997. It is named for Richard E. Jacobs, owner of the Indians in 1994, who bought the naming rights to the stadium.