A 1925 Yankees spring training diamond where a park manager and staff have reported phantom figures in baseball uniforms moving through locked buildings
1320 5th Street N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public park; no admission required
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat maintained baseball diamond in a city park
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1925 · New York Yankees Spring Training · New York Mets Spring Training · National Register of Historic Places (2019) · Florida Baseball History
The New York Yankees began spring training in St. Petersburg in 1925 under manager Miller Huggins, who developed this practice facility at what was then the edge of the city's park system. Huggins installed his young roster — including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig — through their early seasons at the field. After Huggins died in September 1929, the facility was renamed Miller Huggins Field in his honor.
Casey Stengel managed the Yankees at the field through the team's dynasty years in the 1950s, when they won five consecutive World Series titles. The Yankees relocated spring training to Fort Lauderdale in 1962, and the Mets — also under Stengel in their inaugural year — took over St. Petersburg operations. The field was renamed Huggins-Stengel in 1963 to honor both managers. The Mets left in 1987; the Baltimore Orioles used the facility briefly from 1992 to 1995 before spring training there ended.
The field today retains its 1925 dimensions. The old clubhouse structures have been converted to recreation program use. In August 2019, the Florida Department of State announced the field's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, citing its significance to both professional baseball history and 20th-century St. Petersburg.
Sources
SPIRITS of St. Petersburg, a local paranormal investigation group led by Brandy Stark, documented the field in a 2011 investigation. The group conducted their examination during daylight hours — night access was blocked by an active sporting schedule — using EMF meters, digital cameras, and audio recording equipment.
The most specific account came from a park manager who described seeing a gray figure dressed in a baseball uniform walk through the wall of one of the old buildings on the property and vanish. A smaller figure was reported near the home team dugout and attributed in tradition to Casey Stengel; a separate tall figure was said to emerge from a locked area of the facility.
Employee reports collected by the investigation included voices heard at night when the field was otherwise empty, doors opening and closing without apparent cause, radios turning on by themselves, and an unexplained cigar smell that staff associated with Miller Huggins. A light fixture fell on an employee in the shower area of the old clubhouse building. EMF readings during the investigation produced spikes but were attributed by investigators to nearby power lines rather than paranormal causes. The group assigned the location a moderate haunting rating of 5 out of 10.
Notable Entities
The 1925 field retains its original dimensions and several of the original structures, including former clubhouse buildings now used by a local recreation program. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places (2019) and offers interpretive markers about the Yankees, Mets, and Orioles eras. Free and open to the public as part of Crescent Lake Park.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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