The Sporting Life

The Sporting Life. Danbury, Connecticut. , Historic newspapers reveal that sports have long been an outlet for both competitive and recreational gatherings in our city. Local coverage of amateur, club, factory, and school competitions were a regular feature. , Early baseball games were held at White Street fields. In 1913, an 1,800 seat stadium was built at the corner of South Street and Shelter Rock Road next to the trolley depot. Admission was 25 cents. For five cents more, fans could sit in the grandstand. , During the late 1800s, baseball was especially popular among hatters. Players for the Middle River Cowboys all wore derbies; only the pitcher wore a cap because his hat fell off every time he through the ball. , Danbury native Ken Smith served as bat boy for his hometown team in the New York-New Jersey League. Smith went on to become a renowned sportswriter who covered the New York Giants for 30 years and Director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963. , Jack Thompson organized the Danbury Trojans, one of the top semi-pro football teams in the Northeast during the 1930s. They regularly drew 2,000 fans to Lee’s Field and won several state titles in a league that lasted until 1939. , Other sport mentions of note: Pleasure Park horse races and polo matches; The Pahquioque Rod and Gun Club trap shoots; Danbury Boat Club annual regattas on Candlewood Lake; stock car races at the Danbury Race Arena located at the fairgrounds; the Deer Hill Avenue golf course; and the Mad Hatter Ski Slope on Mountainville Road. , In 1934, Cephas B. Rogers turned over 25 acres to the city. Its many recreational fields have allowed a never ending stream of sports enthusiasts a hometown place to watch, practice and play. The addition of the Danbury Ice Arena makes winter sports a year round attraction.