Pote Field, Los Angeles, Calif.

Pote Field in Griffith Park

Overlooking Pote Field from the first-base side, Aug-2018.

The view from center field.

A look out at the field from behind home plate.

Quick Facts:

Location: Griffith Park, Crystal Springs Drive (off the Golden State Freeway, I-5 exit 141), Los Angeles, Calif. (map it using Google Maps)
Opened: Unknown
Home team: Hollywood Stars, Pecos League (two games in 2017)
Capacity: 500

When the Pecos League decided to enter the Golden State market following the transfer of California League teams in Adelanto and Bakersfield to the Carolina League, they realized that they needed to set up an entire division in order to reduce travel costs. For 2017, the league was to operate with ten teams, so they created a five-team Pacific Division. Along with the High Desert Yardbirds in Adelanto and the Train Robbers in Bakersfield, the other teams were the California City Whiptails, the Monterey Amberjacks, and a team to be based in Los Angeles called the Hollywood Stars. The team name they chose was that of a Pacific Coast League team that had played at Gilmore Field (now the site of Television City, the studios along Beverly Boulevard once owned by CBS) from 1939 to 1957.

Finding an appropriate ballpark for the Stars was another matter. Gilmore Field was long gone, as was Wrigley Field, the former home of the L.A. Angels. Eventually, the league decided to play the Stars as a road team; however, to give them some sort of home base, they played two games at this unlighted facility in Griffith Park, the city’s largest park (and home to the famous Hollywood sign), a mere 5½ miles from Chavez Ravine.

For this limited use, the field was more than adequate. Also used by the now-closed Shepherd University baseball program, the field features an amphitheater setup, with bleachers built into the hillsides. There is also an electric scoreboard displaying the count along with the inning and total runs, hits, and errors.

The Stars were dissolved after the 2017 season, as the league expanded to 12 teams but reduced their California division to four. The remainder of the league operates in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas.

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