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Location in the United States Location in Washington | |
Former names | Posse Stadium Tri-City Stadium Dust Devils Stadium |
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Address | 6200 Burden Boulevard |
Location | Pasco, Washington, U.S. |
Coordinates | 46°16′01″N119°10′19″W / 46.267°N 119.172°W |
Owner | City of Pasco |
Operator | Tri-City Dust Devils |
Capacity | 3,654 |
Field size | Left Field – 335 ft (102 m) Center Field – 400 ft (122 m) Right Field – 335 ft (102 m) |
Surface | Natural grass |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1993 |
Opened | 1995 |
Tenants | |
Tri-City Dust Devils (NWL) (2001–present) Tri-City Posse (WBL) (1995–2000) |
Gesa Stadium (formerly Dust Devils Stadium) is a Minor League Baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Pasco, Washington. Opened 28 years ago in 1995, it is the home field of the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Northwest League.
The venue opened as "Tri-City Stadium" for the Tri-City Posse, a charter member of the independent Western Baseball League (WBL). [1] After six years, the Posse left after the 2000 season when the NWL Rockies moved up the Columbia River from Portland to become the Tri-City Dust Devils for 2001. [2] (The Rockies moved to make way for a new incarnation of the Beavers in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.) [2]
It was renamed "Dust Devils Stadium" in 2004 and became Gesa Stadium in 2008, when Gesa Credit Union, a local financial institution, announced that they had purchased the naming rights to the facility for a duration of ten years. [3] [4]
In early 2007, the stadium underwent a renovation, which a 137-foot (42 m) sunshade was constructed on the northwest-side of the stadium behind the right-field stands, to help shade spectators on the left-field stands from the glare of the setting sun. Gesa Stadium has an unorthodox southern alignment, so that fans could have sight of the Kennewick area and the surrounding Horse Heaven Hills, particularly Jump Off Joe. The recommended alignment of a baseball diamond (home plate to center field) is east-northeast. [5]
The elevation of the playing field is approximately 500 feet (150 m) above sea level and is just north of Interstate 182, several miles west of the Tri-Cities Airport.
The previous ballparks for minor league baseball in the area were in the other two cities, and both were aligned northeast.
Sanders-Jacobs Field (1950–1974) in Kennewick was located at the northeast corner of Clearwater Avenue and Neel Street in the West Highlands ( 46°12′47″N119°10′08″W / 46.213°N 119.169°W ). Used for a quarter century, its third base line followed present-day Morain Street. It was named for Harry Sanders, a Connell farmer, and Tom Jacobs, a former manager and the general manager of the Atoms at the time of his death at age 64 in 1968. [6] [7] The independent Tri-City Ports folded after the 1974 season, and the venue was demolished soon after.
In Richland, the baseball field at Richland High School, adjacent to the Bomber Bowl, was used for the Tri-Cities Triplets' four seasons in the mid-1980s. The team was sold after the 1986 season, moved to southwestern Idaho, and became the Boise Hawks. [8]
The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. The cities border one another, making the Tri-Cities seem like one uninterrupted mid-sized city. The three cities function as the center of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, which consists of Benton and Franklin counties. The Tri-Cities urban area consists of the city of West Richland, the census-designated places (CDP) of West Pasco, Washington and Finley, as well as the CDP of Burbank, despite the latter being located in Walla Walla County.
Richland is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby cities of Pasco and Kennewick, Richland is one of the Tri-Cities, and is home to the Hanford nuclear site.
Kennewick is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers. It is the most populous of the three cities collectively referred to as the Tri-Cities. The population was 83,921 at the 2020 census.
Pasco is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and 79,315 as of the July 1, 2022 estimate.
Interstate 182 (I-182) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It serves as a connector from I-82 to the Tri-Cities region that crosses the Columbia River on the Interstate 182 Bridge between Richland and Pasco. I-182 is 15 miles (24 km) long and entirely concurrent with U.S. Route 12 (US 12); it also intersects State Route 240 (SR 240) and US 395.
The Inland Northwest, historically and alternatively known as the Inland Empire, is a region of the American Northwest centered on the Greater Spokane, Washington Area, encompassing all of Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Under broader definitions, Northeastern Oregon and Western Montana may be included in the Inland Northwest. Alternatively, stricter definitions may exclude Central Washington and Idaho County, Idaho.
The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city nearly surrounded by Boise.
The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home games at Gesa Stadium, which opened in 1995 and has a seating capacity of 3,654.
The Portland Rockies were a minor league baseball team that played in Portland, Oregon. The Rockies were members of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League for six years, from 1995 through 2000. Prior to relocating to Portland, the franchise played in Bend, Oregon as the Bend Rockies from 1992 until 1994.
The Western International League was a mid- to higher-level minor league baseball circuit in the Pacific Northwest United States and western Canada that operated in 1922, 1937 to 1942, and 1946 to 1954. In 1955, the Western International League evolved to become the Northwest League, which is still playing today.
The Tri-City Posse was an American minor league baseball team located in the Tri-Cities of Washington. The team was a founding member of the independent Western Baseball League, and was not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. Its home stadium was Tri-City Stadium, now Gesa Stadium, in west Pasco.
Fran Rish Stadium is a football/track stadium in the northwest United States, located adjacent to the campus of Richland High School in Richland, Washington.
The Tri-City Atoms were a minor league baseball team located in Kennewick, Washington. The Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington, which include Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco, fielded a number of minor league teams in the Northwest League and its predecessor, the Western International League, from 1955 to 1974.
U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs from California to the inland regions of Oregon and Washington. It travels north–south through Washington, including long concurrencies with Interstate 82 (I-82) and I-90, and connects the Tri-Cities region to Spokane and the Canadian border at Laurier.
The Washington Huskies baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team of the University of Washington, located in Seattle, Washington, United States. The program has been a member of the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference since the start of the 1960 season, preceded by the Pacific Coast Conference.
The Triple-Cities Triplets were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Richland, Washington, one of the Tri-Cities. The Triplets were members of the Class A short-season Northwest League for four seasons, from 1983 through 1986.
The following is a timeline of the history of the Tri-Cities, an area of the U.S. state of Washington encompassing the cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland.