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FACT BRIEF

Did Jackie Robinson play at Fort Worth’s historic LaGrave Field?

By Haley Samsel
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YES

While on the Brooklyn Dodgers, baseball star Jackie Robinson played against the Fort Worth Cats in a 1948 exhibition game at LaGrave Field near downtown Fort Worth.

Once known as the Panthers, the Cats operated between 1888 and 1964 as a minor league franchise that hosted visiting major league players like Robinson, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. The team was revived in 2001 before shutting down again in 2014.

LaGrave Field opened in 1926, welcoming up to 12,000 spectators. Attempts to bring the team back and revitalize the ballpark failed in 2020.

LaGrave is located on the future Panther Island, a man-made island that will be created when the federal government reroutes part of the Trinity River over the next decade. The Tarrant Regional Water District owns the field and will determine whether the property remains a sports facility or is sold to a developer.

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Sources
UTA Libraries Digital Gallery Jackie Robinson #42 of Brooklyn Dodgers runs for a base during an exhibition game between the Fort Worth Cats and Brooklyn Dodgers at LaGrave Field, Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth Magazine Rise of the Panthers, Fall of the Cats: A History of Fort Worth's Iconic Baseball Team
FTWtoday A grave history for LaGrave Field
Fort Worth Star-Telegram The Fort Worth Cats were supposed to be playing ball at LaGrave soon. What happened?
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.