facility near downtown Tampa. Plant Field was also the home ballpark of the minor league Tampa Smokers, who were a charter member of the Florida State League. While the Cincinnati Reds were still training at Plant Field into the 1950s, the facility was old (it was built in 1898) and had to be shared among many different teams and events. City leaders decided that a new baseball-only facility would insure that Tampa could continue to host spring training and professional baseball into the future. In 1949, the city of Tampa bought of open land near West Tampa from the federal government. The large, grassy parcel had once been the perimeter of Drew Field, a World War II-era airfield which was the precursor to Tampa International Airport, and was purchased with the idea of building a large community sports complex. The construction of Al López Field in 1954 was the first phase of this project. It was located east of Dale Mabry Highway (US Highway 92) and north of Tampa Bay Boulevard, near the center of the land parcel purchased in 1949. Tampa Stadium, a much larger football stadium, was constructed beyond the baseball park's left field wall in 1967. Much like the original Tampa Stadium, the design of Al López Field was functional and minimalist. The grandstand was primarily constructed from concrete and featured a high, curved aluminum overhang with no obstructing columns, a design similar to that of Miami Stadium. Sporting history Construction on Al López Field was not quite complete on October 6, 1954, when it was officially dedicated as part of "Al López Day" in Tampa. It was, however, ready for spring training in March , when the Chicago White Sox used the place as a training base while playing exhibition games at Plant Field. After the White Sox went north for the beginning of the regular season, their new Florida State League Class-A team, the Tampa Tarpons, took the field. Al López became the White Sox manager in , putting him in the unusual position of managing in his hometown in a stadium that bore his name. During one ballgame, Lopez got into an argument with umpire John Stevens and was ejected. As Lopez said later, "The umpire threw me out of my own ballpark!" The White Sox moved their spring training home to Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida in , and the Cincinnati Reds (who