A look back as Historic Grayson Stadium reaches its 100-year anniversary

Historic Grayson Stadium has become a destination spot for fans of the Savannah Bananas who flock to the Hostess City from all over the country to see one of the most popular baseball franchises in the world. In March, the Bananas reached a milestone by selling out their 500th straight game. The old ballpark reached a milestone of its own as Grayson Stadium celebrated its 100th anniversary as a focal point in the history of Savannah sports in April.

In 1925, the city of Savannah started construction of Municipal Stadium in Daffin Park with a $100,000 project that was finished in 1926. The facility became the home of the Savannah Indians, who has previously played at the Savannah Athletic Field at Henry Street and Waters and at Bolton Street Park, according to the book "Baseball in Savannah" by Brian Harold Lee. The Boston Red Sox held their spring training at Municipal Stadium in 1932, and it was frequently visited by Major League squads playing exhibition games.

After losing the 1926 World Series to the Cardinals, the Yankees came to Savannah after spring training in Florida and played an exhibition game in front of a crowd estimated at 15,000 against the Cardinals, who won it 20-10, in 1927. That game featured Hall of Famers in Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, whose appearances at the stadium are remembered today with posters on the concourse in the Grayson Stadium Walk of Fame. Included in the Walk of Fame is one of baseball's all-time greats in Jackie Robinson, who became the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, 10 years after he made an appearance at Grayson Stadium in an exhibition game with the Dodgers. New York Yankee Hall of Fame center fielder Mickey Mantle had three hits, including a towering home run, when the Yankees played an exhibition game against the Savannah Redlegs at Grayson Stadium in 1957. As a 19-year old second baseman with the Class A Jacksonville Braves, Hank Aaron played a game at Grayson in 1953, a year where he hit .