Pat Duncan

Who was Pat Duncan?

Louis Baird "Pat" Duncan, was a professional baseball player who played outfielder in the Major Leagues from 1915-1924. He would play for the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1921, the park was in its tenth season and no one had yet hit a ball over the fence without the benefit of a bounce. The first ball to clear the fence on the fly was hit in late May by John Beckwith of the Chicago Giants of the Negro National League. Then on June 2, with the last-place Reds playing the St. Louis Cardinals, Duncan dug in against left-handed hurler Ferdie Schupp with a runner on second and one out. Duncan connected. The ball rocketed toward left field, easily cleared the wall, and Duncan had registered Organized Baseball’s first home run to go out of the park in Redland Field. It cleared the 12-foot concrete wall by four to six feet, and it traveled an estimated 400 feet.