early as October 1860. The grandstand accommodated initially a capacity of 12,000 fans and was later expanded to hold 17,000. Home of the Pacific Baseball League beginning in 1878, the ballpark was owned and operated by the politically active Captain Al Fritz of the influential Workingman's Party of California in partnership with Samuel Shear on land leased from San Francisco Mayor Andrew J. Bryant. In later years, after the death of Fritz, the Recreation Grounds was leased by Waller Walace and Andy Pierce for organized ball play with the preeminent team of that era being the Haverlys. In 1879 league play included a new Military League, organized by newspaper reporter Joseph H. McCloskey, drawn from teams of local militias which were generally aligned along ethnic lines. The period of 1881 to 1886 saw league play from the California League which failed to achieve much organizational competence; during the year 1883, for instance, there were only 36 games among four teams. The ballpark was bounded by Harrison, Twenty-Fifth, Folsom and Twenty-Sixth Streets, including present day Garfield Square. Photo. Other teams playing in Recreation Grounds included the Eagles, Wide Awakes, Niantics, Woonsockets and Reddingtons. Amateur and practice fields 19th Century amateur and practice fields. During the 1870s and 1880s baseball was a very popular recreation in San Francisco with amateur games and practices held prior to professional games at the professional parks, and at fields located at 15th and Folsom, 25th and Howard in the Mission District, at 8th and Harrison South of Market and at Filmore and Geary in the Richmond. A sand lot baseball field was located at Pierce and Haight Streets, 1886 photo. Union Grounds Union Base-ball Grounds or Union Grounds Opened in October 1879. Used for baseball and for other sports. First reference in city directories is 1880, last is 1882. Location: Brannan Street (northwest); 6th Street (northeast); Townsend Street (southeast); 7th Street (southwest). Central Park Central Park 1884–1898 In the South of Market district, known under the name 'Central Park' at the southeast corner (per 1887 and 1900 city directories) of 8th and Market Streets, or 1185 Market Street (per 1905 city directory); a stadium with seating for 15,000, Daniel R. McNeil opened a professional baseball stadium on Thanksgiving Day 1884 (November 27), and was used for play of the Pacific Coast Baseball League from 1886 until June 1887. This ball park on April 28, 1888 became