A Baseball Game in the Hoosier Dome?

In the early 1980s, Indianapolis leaders briefly flirted with the idea of luring a Major League Baseball team to the city, with the then-new Hoosier Dome to serve as a home ballpark.    The Hoosier Dome was designed for football and used for basketball, but it was considered for baseball.  However, a 295-foot rightfield distance due to a balcony (well below the 325 foot MLB minimum) made it unsuitable for regular MLB play.  Though a big league team would not end up calling Indy home, the Hoosier Dome still hosted a baseball game weeks before the first game of the newly-relocated Indianapolis Colts.

According to news accounts at the time, the “Old-Timers Indiana Dream Game” on July 27, 1984, was the last of a four-game tour featuring more than 30 retired baseball legends.  Willie Mays was there, five years after his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with a roster that included fellow Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Don Newcombe, Brooks Robinson and Bob Feller.  On the mound that day was Anderson’s native Carl Erskine, who pitched alongside Newcombe on the “Boys of Summer” Brooklyn teams of the 1950s.

The old timer’s baseball game was an early attempt to convince Major League Baseball to expand to Indianapolis. A group of investors, including Fred Simon (brother of the Pacer’s saviors Herb & Mel), were trying to lure the Minnesota Twins to Indianapolis.  Harry Caray spoke at a downtown rally in support of bringing a Major League club to Indy. But after that old timer’s game, it became apparent that the Dome was not built for baseball.  Dome officials winced in batting practice and during the game whenever balls were hit into the stands, fearful they would crack the glass on the new suites. Heck, 77-year-old Luke Appling, cracked two dingers off the upper seats alone!

The National League team, led by Mays and Aaron, would beat the American League in the game 13-12. But, why was Indianapolis even considered for a major league baseball team at that time which lead to that one  game being played at the Hoosier Dome?  It was because of a man named Art Angotti.

Art Angotti, an Indiana-born businessman who tried to bring Major League Baseball to Indianapolis. Had he been successful, baseball would have the Indianapolis Arrows today.

Arthur Angotti Jr. Was born in Gary, Ind. on September 25, 1944. He was an excellent athlete at Horace Mann High School and Indiana University. He was the quarterback of his high school football team and ran track at IU while earning a business degree.

Sports, particularly baseball, was always close to his heart. His family was friends with Kansas City/Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley, and he attended the 1972-4 World Series as Finley’s guest. He served as president of Indianapolis Baseball Inc., which was formed for the express purpose of bringing major-league baseball to Indiana, one way or another.

“I would be happy to talk to anybody, anyplace, anytime to buy a major league baseball team,” he said in November 1984.

At the time, there were a couple of options for Angotti and groups in other cities that were courting MLB. Along with Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Denver and St. Petersburg were also looking to bring a team to town. There were at least three existing teams that were looking for new owners then. The Pirates were the most widely known, but their lease agreement with Three Rivers Stadium would ultimately keep the team in Pittsburgh. That left the possibility of an expansion team.

“We are focusing our efforts on the next nine months, because if baseball resolves some of its current problems, expansion may be a high priority for the August, 1985 meetings in Anaheim,” Angotti told The Indianapolis Star in December 1984. “A lot of work still has to be completed but we have an excellent foundation to build on. We will be making announcements over the next few months that will get baseball’s attention.”

Soon, the team that didn’t yet exist had a name — the Indianapolis Arrows — and a group of local investors. Joining Angotti was Indiana philanthropist Tom Binford, WTTV Channel 4 and 11 and other minority investors. WTTV would broadcast the games. The group launched a season ticket drive in June of 1985, asking people to send in a $50 deposit for the right to buy a half-season or full-season tickets. It eventually received 11,000 reservations after just a couple of months.

The only thing the Arrows didn’t have was a place to play. There was a thought that the Hoosier Dome, home of the Indianapolis Colts, could have been reconfigured to accommodate baseball with an $8 million renovation. Ultimately, that plan failed, and there was no possibility to build a downtown baseball stadium. The Arrows refunded the $50 (with 5.5% interest) to their would-be season ticket holders, and Angotti left Indianapolis Baseball in 1988. MLB didn’t even begin serious expansion talks until 1990, and Indianapolis did not submit a proposal.

Today, there is no Major League Baseball in Indianapolis and there was never any Major League Baseball games in the Hoosier/RCA dome.  As we all know there isn't even an RCA Dome anymore.  Here is a video of the deflating of the dome.