George M. Steinbrenner Field

Last updated
George M. Steinbrenner Field
George M. Steinbrenner Field Logo.png
Legends field.JPG
George M. Steinbrenner Field
Former namesLegends Field (1996–2008)
Location1 Steinbrenner Drive
Tampa, FL 33614
Coordinates 27°58′49″N82°30′24″W / 27.98028°N 82.50667°W / 27.98028; -82.50667
Owner Yankee Global Enterprises
Operator New York Yankees
Capacity 11,026 (2007–present)
10,200 (1996–2006)
Field sizeLeft Field – 318 ft (97 m)
Left-Center – 399 ft (122 m)
Center Field – 408 ft (124 m)
Right-Center – 385 ft (117 m)
Right Field – 314 ft (96 m) [1]
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundOctober 22, 1994 [2]
OpenedMarch 1, 1996
Renovated2016–2017
Construction cost$30 million [3]
($58.3 million in 2023 dollars [4] )
Architect Lescher & Mahoney
Structural engineerMC Engineers, Inc. [5]
Services engineerColwill Engineering [6]
General contractorCase Contracting Company
Tenants
New York Yankees (MLB) (spring training) (1996–present)
Tampa Tarpons (FSL) (1996–present)
Gulf Coast Yankees (GCL) (1996–present)
FC Tampa Bay (NASL) (2010)

George M. Steinbrenner Field, formerly known as Legends Field, [7] is a baseball stadium located in Tampa, Florida, across the Dale Mabry Highway from Raymond James Stadium, the home of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The ballpark was built in 1996 and seats 11,026 people, with an addition in right field built in 2007. [8] It is the largest spring training ballpark in Florida.

Contents

George M. Steinbrenner Field serves as the home of the Tampa Tarpons, the New York Yankees' affiliate in the Florida State League, and is the Yankees' spring training home. [9]

Background and stadium history

Tampa was the first spring training site in Florida, beginning in 1913 with the Chicago Cubs. [10] In the ensuing decades, the city hosted several different Major League Baseball teams for spring training and was home to several different minor league squads during the summer, first at Plant Field near downtown and later at Al Lopez Field near West Tampa. This era came to an end in 1988 when, after almost 30 years in Tampa, the Cincinnati Reds moved to new training facilities in Plant City and transferred operation of the Tampa Tarpons, their local minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, to the Chicago White Sox. In 1989, the Tarpons moved to Sarasota and Al Lopez Field was razed, leaving the city with no professional baseball teams and no large baseball venue.

In 1993, the Tampa Sports Authority announced a deal to build a new spring training stadium for the New York Yankees, who had been conducting spring training in Fort Lauderdale. [11] The original plan was to build the facility on the former site of Al Lopez Field, just south of old Tampa Stadium. However, due to objections from the Buccaneers, the new ballpark was instead built about a half-mile to the northwest, directly across Dale Mabry Highway from Tampa Stadium, displacing a Hillsborough County correctional facility. [12]

The ballpark and the surrounding training complex cost approximately $30 million to build and was financed entirely with public funds, mostly from Hillsborough County. [13] [14] [15] It hosted its first spring training game on March 1, 1996, when the Yankees opened spring training by hosting the Cleveland Indians. [11]

Stadium exterior. GSFieldTB.JPG
Stadium exterior.

In 2006, Hillsborough County paid for a $7.5 million expansion to add more seats and amenities behind right field. [16] The addition opened in 2008.

The ballpark was known as Legends Field for the first dozen years of its existence. It was renamed in honor of George Steinbrenner, the Yankees' owner and Tampa resident, on March 27, 2008, when Steinbrenner was in failing health. [9] [17] He died in July 2010, and a life-size bronze statue of the late owner was placed in front of the stadium in January 2011. [18]

On April 20, 2016, Hillsborough County commissioners approved a $40 million renovation of George M. Steinbrenner Field, greenlighting an agreement that will keep New York Yankees' spring training in Tampa through 2046. Renovations began after the 2016 season. Improvements included new seats throughout the 10,000-capacity ballpark, roof replacements, a better entry plaza and an upgraded outfield concourse. The renovations also included adding new amenities such as new loge boxes, cabanas, suite upgrades, a right-field beachside bar and bullpen clubs. The bullpen clubs were built on both the first base and the third base side. The clubs are composed of two levels; the top tier is exclusively for group tickets, club seat members and loge seating, while the bottom tier features a full bar that all ticket members can access. Additional shaded areas were constructed to protect fans from the sun. The team's spring training practice facility on Himes Avenue was also upgraded. The renovations were completed in time for Spring Training 2017. [19] [20]

Design

The dimensions of the field precisely mimic that of both the old Yankee Stadium and the new Yankee Stadium, and the scalloped grandstand facade (the frieze) is also meant to invoke the old ballpark in the Bronx. When built, it was the first spring training stadium to include luxury suites. [21] Outside of the stadium are plaques commemorating Yankees whose numbers have been retired.

Other tenant and events

In 2008, Barack Obama held a campaign rally at the ballpark with members of the Tampa Bay Rays, including David Price, who introduced him to the crowd. [22]

In 2010, the ballpark was the home pitch for FC Tampa Bay of the USSF Division 2 Professional League. The club moved across Tampa Bay to Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg for the 2011 season.

On August 9, 2014, the venue hosted the "Carnivores Tour" featuring Linkin Park and Thirty Seconds to Mars along with AFI.

Panoramic view of a Tampa Tarpons game vs. the Charlotte Stone Crabs SFPan.jpg
Panoramic view of a Tampa Tarpons game vs. the Charlotte Stone Crabs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropicana Field</span> Baseball stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.

Tropicana Field is a multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has been the home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays since the team's inaugural season in 1998. The stadium is also used for college football, and from December 2008 to December 2017 was the home of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual postseason bowl game. The venue is the only non-retractable domed stadium in Major League Baseball, making it the only year-round indoor venue in MLB. Tropicana Field is the smallest MLB stadium by seating capacity when obstructed-view rows in the uppermost sections are covered with tarps as they are for most Rays games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Tarpons</span> Minor league baseball team

The Tampa Tarpons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Tampa, Florida. The Tarpons play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is also the spring training home of the New York Yankees and incorporates design elements from old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, including identical field dimensions. They competed at the Class A-Advanced level from 1994 to 2020 before being reclassified Low Single-A in 2021. Since their inception, the club has won five league championships, in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay area</span> Region in Florida, United States

The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Lang Stadium</span> Sports stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida

Al Lang Stadium is a 7,500-seat sports stadium along the waterfront of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, United States which was used almost exclusively as a baseball park for over 60 years. Since 2011, it has been the home pitch of the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship soccer league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BayCare Ballpark</span> American baseball stadium

BayCare Ballpark is a baseball stadium located in Clearwater, Florida. The stadium was built in 2004 and has a maximum seating capacity of 8,500 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LECOM Park</span> Baseball field in Bradenton, Florida

LECOM Park is a baseball field located in Bradenton, Florida. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and is named after a 15-year naming rights deal was signed with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has its main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, and also a campus in Bradenton. It was formerly known as McKechnie Field, named for Bradenton resident and Baseball Hall of Fame great Bill McKechnie, who led the Pirates in 1925 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1940 to World Series titles. He was also a coach with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TD Ballpark</span> Baseball field in Florida, USA

TD Ballpark, originally Dunedin Stadium at Grant Field, is a baseball field located in Dunedin, Florida. The stadium was built in 1990 and holds 8,500 people. It is the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as home to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League and the Dunedin High School Falcons baseball team. The stadium has also been known as Knology Park (2004–2008) and Florida Auto Exchange Stadium (2010–2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Lopez Field</span> Former baseball stadium in Tampa, Florida

Al López Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball ballpark in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al López, the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Al López Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first spring training in 1955, when the Chicago White Sox moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al López became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The Cincinnati Reds replaced the White Sox as Al López Field's primary tenant in 1960 and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The Tampa Tarpons, the Reds' Class-A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, played at the ballpark every summer from 1961–1987, and many members of the Reds' Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s played there early in their professional baseball careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Tarpons (1957–1988)</span> Minor league baseball team

The Tampa Tarpons were a minor league baseball team based in Tampa, Florida. Their home ballpark was Al Lopez Field, and they were a member of the Class A Florida State League (FSL) from 1957 until 1988, mostly as an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. In 1988, they were sold, relocated, and renamed the Sarasota White Sox. During their run in Tampa, they won three FSL league championships, in 1957, 1959 and 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Russell Memorial Stadium</span> Baseball stadium in Clearwater, Florida, U.S.

Jack Russell Memorial Stadium is a baseball field in Clearwater, Florida. It opened as Jack Russell Stadium in 1955. It was the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team from 1955 through 2003. Since 2017, it has been home to the Clearwater High School and St. Petersburg College baseball teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradenton Marauders</span> Minor league baseball team

The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as the Pirates' spring training facility.

Baseball in the Tampa Bay area, both amateur and professional, has had a long and storied history, even though the Tampa Bay Rays are one of the two youngest franchises in Major League Baseball, the other being the Arizona Diamondbacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay Rowdies</span> American professional soccer team

The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. They formerly played in USSF Division 2 and the North American Soccer League (NASL), which were also second-tier leagues. The Rowdies play their home games at Al Lang Stadium on St. Petersburg's downtown waterfront.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay Rays</span> Major League Baseball franchise in St. Petersburg, Florida

The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. The Rays are one of two major league clubs based in Florida, alongside the National League (NL)’s Miami Marlins. Since its inception, the team's home ballpark has been Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in the Tampa Bay area</span> Overview of sports opportunities in the Tampa Bay area

The Tampa Bay area is home to many sports teams and has a substantial history of sporting activity. Most of the region's professional sports franchises use the name "Tampa Bay", which is the name of a body of water, not of any city. This is to emphasize that they represent the wider metropolitan area and not a particular municipality and was a tradition started by Tampa's first major sports team, the original Tampa Bay Rowdies, when they were founded in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Smokers</span> American minor league baseball teams

The Tampa Smokers was a name used between 1919 and 1954 by a series of minor league baseball teams based in Tampa, Florida. The nickname was a nod to the local cigar industry, which was the most important industry in Tampa during the years in which the Smokers were active. During periods in which the name was not used by a professional team, various local semi-pro and amateur teams took up the Smokers name.

Joseph Anthony Molloy is the former managing general partner of the New York Yankees from 1988 to 1998. He served as acting owner during the suspension of George Steinbrenner from 1992 to 1993.

References

  1. ↑ "Grapefruit League Ballparks". Ballparks.com. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  2. ↑ Wilborn, Paul; Mahan, Mike (October 11, 1994). "Celebrate Opening Day Series: Around Town". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved March 3, 2012.[ dead link ]
  3. ↑ "It Happens Every Spring: A 110-Year Retrospective of Yankees Spring Training". The Yankee Analysts. February 16, 2011. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Projects". MC Engineers. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Related Experience - Recreational". Colwill Engineering. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  7. ↑ "New York Yankees to Rename Legends Field in Tampa "George M. Steinbrenner Field"" (Press release). Major League Baseball Advanced Media. February 14, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  8. ↑ Gigley, Chris (September 14, 2005). "Legends Field: The Florida Home of the Yankees". At the Yard. Archived from the original on May 9, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2006.
  9. 1 2 "George M. Steinbrenner Field". Major League Baseball Advanced Media. 2008. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  10. ↑ "2013 – The Quasquicentennial Year of Major League Baseball Spring Training in Florida". Florida Grapefruit League. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Tampa Sports Authority: Timeline". Tampa Sports Authority. Archived from the original on September 28, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  12. ↑ Scherberger, Tom (January 15, 1994). "Yankees Reject Site South of Stadium". St. Petersburg Times . p. 5B. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  13. ↑ "New York Yankees Legends Field Spring Training Facility". Hines. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  14. ↑ Troxler, Howard (April 6, 1998). "Survival of the Richest Drives Laws". St. Petersburg Times . Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  15. ↑ Wilborn, Paul (March 2, 1996). "New Home's Opener". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved March 5, 2014.[ dead link ]
  16. ↑ Varian, Bill (August 1, 2006). "Yankees to Expand Legends Field Seating". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  17. ↑ Brassfield, Mike (February 15, 2008). "Legends Field Gets New Name". St. Petersburg Times . Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  18. ↑ Johnson, Neil (January 7, 2011). "Yankees Honor Steinbrenner with Statue". The Tampa Tribune . Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  19. ↑ Steve Contorno (April 20, 2016). "Video: Hillsborough County approves $40M Steinbrenner Field renovation to keep the Yankees through 2046". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  20. ↑ George M. Steinbrenner Field Renovations (yankees.com; accessed November 4, 2016)
  21. ↑ Scanlan, Dick (March 2, 1996). "Legends Truly a Sign of the Times". Ocala Star-Banner . p. 1D. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  22. ↑ Davis, Susan (October 20, 2008). "Tampa Bay Rays Come Out for Obama". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 4, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.