The right-field fence, abutting the Midland Valley railroad tracks in the southeast corner of downtown Tulsa, was just 274 feet from home plate at McNulty Park, home of Minor League Baseball’s first team in Tulsa. the city.
The short field helped the Tulsa Oilers win five pennants and six batting titles in the 1920s. But it caused serious problems for the University of Tulsa football team, which also played games at home at the stadium.
A full-length grill would not fit, so the playing field was only 90 yards. Once the ball got closer to the end zone, the referees moved it back 10 yards to make up the difference. And if someone broke a big play, it was a judgment call on whether to count it as a touchdown.
Sometimes referees have ruled that a player would have been tackled behind the goal line if the goal line had been where it was supposed to be. But the fans didn’t always agree, and hardly a match went without controversy.
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Tulsa finally got a proper football stadium after oil magnate William Skelly pledged $125,000 if an additional $175,000 could be raised for the project.
As a teenager in Pennsylvania in the 1890s, Skelly had helped his father transport oil supplies in a horse-drawn wagon. Later he went to work as a tool dresser, earning $2.50 a day at the famous Venango oil field.
He moved to Tulsa in 1912 to pursue a career as an independent producer until he incorporated Skelly Oil in 1919, creating a fully integrated company that pumped oil from its own wells and sold gasoline at its own gas stations.
Much of his fortune came from the development of Burbank Field in Osage County, where Skelly developed a special relationship with the Osage Nation. The tribe made him an honorary member and gave him an Osage name, Wah-Tah-In-Kah, which means “saucy chief.”
He chose it over his other moniker, “Mr. Tulsa,” a title that would have made him wince in modesty. But he earned it thanks to the seemingly ubiquitous support of all the great charities and good causes in town. , especially the University of Tulsa.
Construction of Skelly Stadium began on May 11, 1930, and was completed in time for an October 4 game against Arkansas. TU recovered a fumble from Razorback on the opening kickoff, then scored a touchdown in the north zone on the first scrimmage play in stadium history.
The stadium can now accommodate 30,000 people, roughly double its original capacity. The name changed to Skelly Field at HA Chapman Stadium in 2007 during an $18 million renovation.