The world flocked to Buffalo in 1901 to take in the magnificence of the electrified Pan American Exposition. The Pan Am, as it was informally called, perhaps first conceived by Captain John M. Brinker of the Bureau of American Relations at the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition, was viewed as a means of stimulating inter-American trade and cooperation. The growing city of Buffalo, a rising hub of trade and industry connected by water and rail to the east, west and south of the North American continent, was chosen as the exposition site. Vision dictated that the nation and the city should extend their commercial and cultural reach still further south, to the nations of Latin and South America. Following immediately upon the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the exposition took on extra international importance: “it was now to be the first token of the hemispheric ‘good neighbor’ policy recently instituted.” The Pan American Exposition Company came into being in 1897.

Constructed on a 350-acre tract of land owned by the Rumsey family to the north of the city, the expo had for its southern boundary part of Delaware Park, including The Lake and the newly built Bridge of the Three Americas leading to the Lincoln Park Gateway. Elmwood Avenue formed the western boundary, with the Belt Line Railroad Station and the iconic Electric Tower at the northern extremity and Delaware Avenue on the east. With the expo to open in May and close in November of 1901, buildings on the grounds were constructed of timber and staff so as to be easily dismantled. This material, however, was overlaid with a Spanish Renaissance architectural theme and intricately detailed plaster ornamentation and attendant sculptures. Buildings were painted initially with bold primary colors, which gradually transformed themselves into refined pastels as visitors made their way further into the grounds. For good reason, the expo took on the unofficial title of “Rainbow City.”

Canals, fountains and electricity—hydroelectric power sent overland from Niagara Falls—bathed the experience in the surreal. State and international buildings stood together with cultural and industrial showcases and, for amusement, there were over three dozen varied attractions lining the mile-long Midway. In the northeast corner of exposition grounds was found the stadium, designed by New York architect Walter Cook of Babb, Cook and Willard. According to the official catalogue and guide, it was “modeled after the Panathenaic Stadium, scooped by Lycurgus out of the bank of Ilissus at Athens, 2200 years ago.” It measured 678.5 feet long by 450.5 feet wide and contained a 22-foot-wide, quarter-mile oval track plus accommodation for up to 12,000 patrons. The stadium was to be the site for college and AAU athletic events, cattle judging, parades, fireworks, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Volksfest singing, shooting exhibitions, Scottish games, firemen’s tournaments, Canadian-American lacrosse championships and basketball. It was also to be the site of an address by President William McKinley on September 5. A banked bicycle track was installed on July 30, providing the opportunity for champion bicycle racers to display their skills. The stadium would also serve as a venue for baseball.

To the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and Cornell University went the honor of playing the very first baseball game in the stadium. The contest was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on a raw and windy Saturday, June 8, 1901, and yet the ball field had not been laid out by the time the teams arrived to play. A diamond was then hastily placed facing in the wrong direction—toward the west stands filled with fans. The stadium infield stretched interminably eastward behind home plate. Despite the efforts of a steamroller to smooth the area, “[the] field was not in good shape,” leading to “loose fielding.” The Buffalo Sunday Morning News reported “uncertain footing,” “rough ground” and temperatures so cold that “two thirds of the 3,000 spectators quit before the game was over.…” Crowd estimates varied—5,000 or 3,000 or 2,500—but not the score: Cornell plated a run in the home half of the ninth inning to achieve a 6-5 win.

Two of the men who participated in this inaugural matchup, however, were later elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hughie Jennings, a 32-year-old St. Bonaventure University graduate, was a standout shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s and later a pennant-winning manager of the Detroit Tigers (1907 through 1909). At the time of the Pan Am, Jennings was a Cornell law student and also the Cornell coach. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1945. Teen-aged Charles Albert (Chief) Bender played centerfield for the Carlisle squad. He got one hit in five at-bats and scored a run. Bender would become a stalwart hurler for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics from 1903 to 1914, and later with Baltimore (Federal League), the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox. A winner of 212 regular season games and six more in World Series competition, Bender was elected to the Hall in 1953.

The Buffalo Bisons/Pan-Ams and the Providence Clamdiggers inaugurated professional baseball at the stadium later in the month. Buffalo had finished seventh in the 1900 American League (a high-quality minor league organized by Ban Johnson). At the outset of 1901, league president Johnson declared suddenly that his assemblage of ball clubs was now also a major league, and on an equal footing with the rival National League. In so doing, he unceremoniously dumped the Buffalo club and replaced the Bisons with the Boston Americans. Buffalo had nowhere to go except to the Eastern League, a circuit in which they had played from 1891 (pennant winners) to 1898. The Illustrated Buffalo Express predicted that the Buffalo ball club, which had at times “flashed up like a meteor and routed the most stubborn leaders of the second strongest baseball league in America” [that is, the 1900 American League] should do much better as a minor league squad.

The Express also broadcast the news that some home games would be played in the Pan American stadium. It noted that club president Jim Franklin’s squad would be wearing uniforms that read “in letters big enough to be distinguished a mile off…the significant hyphenated word ‘PAN-AMERICAN’.”

Despite the rosy predictions, Buffalo finished in eighth and last place at the season’s close. It was a year of incertitude and inconsistency. Over the course of the campaign, five men had served as team manager—including the owner and his teenaged son—and 41 players had donned the Pan-American colors. George Carey, the club’s first manager, stayed on despite being relieved of those duties and led the team in games played (134), batting average (.316) and home runs (8), tying for the league lead in doubles (37). Dan Kerwin, with six victories and six defeats, was the only pitcher without a losing record, however. Morris (Doc) Amole, who had thrown a no-hitter to open play in 1900, went 11-25 on the mound. Cy Hooker’s record was 12-25. Both men led the league in losses. Charles Hastings, picked up mid-year from Hartford, was the club’s big winner. He won 14 and lost 17. Shortly after the season ended, Franklin sold the ball club to tobacconist Harry Murray. But, the Bisons/Pan-Ams had played two games at the expo stadium in late June 1901.

The first of these two contests, which pitted sixth-place Buffalo against the visiting third-place Providence Clamdiggers, Eastern League pennant winners in 1900, took place on Friday, June 28. The clubs had just split a doubleheader at Olympic Park on the previous day. The stadium game was set for 4:00 p.m. and tickets were free to Pan Am patrons.

By this time, a new ball diamond had been properly laid out at the west end of the stadium, facing east, with the fans in the stands behind home plate where they belonged. The diamond was angled slightly toward the southeast, with home plate set in the grass stadium infield near the northwest bend of the running track. This layout created a left field line distance of approximately 330 feet to the edge of the north seating, cavernous distances in left, center and deep right-center fields, and a very short foul line of perhaps 200 feet to the right field wall at the south. Balls that were hit over the right field barrier were designated Ground Rule Doubles.

Three thousand spectators turned out to witness this baseball encounter and were treated to a very likely win for the home team until…

“WAS VERY BAD UMPIRING” roared The Buffalo Express caption in bold black lettering. The game had been close. Providence scored twice in the first inning, but Buffalo had notched a run in the third and pushed two more across in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead. Then “Bedlam” erupted in the eighth frame (according to the Express), following a reversed call by umpire Warner. “ROWDYISM MARRED FIRST STADIUM LEAGUE CONTEST” was the way the Buffalo Daily Courier saw it, in equally bold face.

According to the Daily Courier, Providence’s Jack Walters was on first base when Suter Sullivan grounded to Charles Atherton at short. Atherton’s toss to Billy Clymer put Walters out at second, but then Walters collided with Clymer—intentionally, according to The Buffalo Review—causing the Buffalo second baseman to drop the ball. When this was brought to umpire Warner’s attention, he reversed his call, ruling that all men were safe and setting off Atherton. The Buffalo shortstop “rushed at Warner and completely turned him around.” Other Buffalo players intervened. Atherton was fined and put out of the game, but then leftfielder William Halligan accosted Warner. He, too, was expelled due to his language, whereupon he threw his glove at Warner and “clouted him on the breast.” Owner Franklin, Buffalo manager Tom Burns and several policemen finally quieted things down. Buffalo third baseman Jay Andrews was also fined five dollars.

The game continued but with pitcher Charles Hastings replacing Halligan in left field and catcher Kid Speer taking over at shortstop. Doc Kennedy replaced Speer behind the plate—and Providence scored eight runs. “Speer is not cut out for a shortstop,” noted the Daily Courier, commenting on the catcher’s fielding efforts, “and he let a few go by him.” Hastings’ outfield sojourn was also shaky. Errors were not assigned by either newspaper, but the Express credited Providence with only six earned runs and Buffalo four. The Daily Courier agreed with four earned runs for the Bisons, but only one for Providence.

Upon completion of the full nine innings, umpire Warner was escorted from the grounds by the police, thus avoiding irate fans and angry ballplayers. Team president Franklin vowed to telegraph league headquarters for a new umpire to officiate the next day’s encounter.

The final score was 11-4 in favor of Providence, the game taking one hour and 50 minutes to play.

The same cast appeared at the stadium for the second game on June 29, with a similar score outcome, minus the drama of the day before. For the Pan-Ams, Atherton was back at shortstop, Halligan was in left field, Speer was behind the plate and Hastings, who had substituted in left field the day before, was out on the mound. Warner was again the umpire. Three thousand spectators were in the stands.

Providence took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, sandwiching two singles around a sacrifice. Buffalo tied it immediately, but four first-inning base hits led to only one run. Jake Gettman’s single was followed by Cy Hopper’s blow over the wall in right, ruled a double. Gettman, who held at third because of the ground rule, scored when Halligan singled to left. Hopper, also attempting to score on the blow, was tagged out at the plate on a fine throw from Providence outfielder Jack Flournoy. Atherton’s single again put two men on base but the next hitter fanned and the inning was over.

Buffalo went ahead in the second frame. Jay Andrews singled and Speer was hit by a pitch. Hastings’ sacrifice then moved the men into scoring position. Clymer walked, loading the bases, then a single by Gettman scored both Andrews and Speer. The home team had taken a 3-1 lead. Providence pushed a run across in the fourth inning, tying the game with another score in the seventh and added a single, go-ahead marker in the eighth. In the ninth inning, Flournoy’s drive to left was mishandled by Halligan, the batter circling the bases while the Buffalo left fielder chased the ball far down the cinder track behind him. The final score was 5-3. The loss dropped Buffalo into seventh place.

Both the Express and the Daily Courier reported that umpire Warner was now accused by Providence of favoring the Pan-Ams, perhaps making up for yesterday’s call or because he felt intimidated by the home squad. The newsmen bemoaned the league’s inadequate umpiring. The way The Buffalo News saw it, no umpire was at fault: “The home team was outplayed and outhit, and that was about all there was to the game.” This second game was played in one hour and 40 minutes.

The next day being a Sunday, baseball was moved just outside the city line to the Pine Hill ballpark immediately to the east, as Sunday games were prohibited within the city limits. Buffalo and Providence ended their five-game series with the Clamdiggers taking a 6-5 victory in 11 innings. Umpire Warner officiated at Pine Hill, but as in the doubleheader of June 27 no “kicks” were registered about his form by either team.

The Bisons/Pan-Ams did not return to the exposition stadium. It was not suitable for professional baseball play nor, apparently, for amateur ball. Several games had been announced in the Pan American Exposition’s schedule for later in the year, but all were cancelled at the last minute.

As with all other Pan American structures except the New York State Building, constructed of marble and now serving as the Buffalo History Museum, the stadium was demolished following the Exposition closure on November 2, 1901. Today, the stadium site is occupied by Marshalls Plaza and Tapestry Charter School

Howard Henry is a retired licensed clinical social worker and retired adjunct professor from Buffalo State University. He is the author of Saving Buffalo Baseball: The 1956 Buffalo Bisons.