Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams was at bat when the Boardwalk and Baseball theme park opened south of Orlando in Haines City on April 4, 1987.
Williams hit a ceremonial baseball to cut the ribbon for the park, which attempted to blend America’s favorite pastime with a mile-long boardwalk, midway games and 30 thrill rides.
“Hardcourt Brace Jovanovich created the park out of the foundering Circus World, bought 11 months ago for $18 million,” the Sentinel’s opening day report said. “The publishing and entertainment company, which also owns Sea World, then paid $22 million for improvements, including a log flume ride and a stadium where the Kansas City Royals will play spring training games beginning in 1988.”
The Sentinel’s story said it was an unseasonably cold and blustery day but about 5,000 came to the new theme park, which featured a Baseball Hall of Fame display from Cooperstown. Admission back then was $16.95 for adults and $12.95 for children under 4 feet tall.
In November 1989, Anheuser-Busch bought the theme park along with five others from HBJ for $1.1 billion, then closed Boardwalk and Baseball in January 1990. The Royals would continue to use the baseball stadium and training fields before leaving in 2002.
Baseball legend Ted Williams inspects a larger-than-life picture of himself in the Baseball Hall of Fame exhibit at Boardwalk and Baseball in Haines City on April 4, 1987. (Orlando Sentinel file)