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Location | 873 Long Drive Aberdeen, Maryland 21001 |
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Coordinates | 39°31′51″N76°11′10″W / 39.530873°N 76.185985°W |
Owner | City of Aberdeen |
Operator | Maryland Stadium Authority |
Capacity | 6,300 [1] |
Field size | Left Field – 310 feet (94 m) Center Field – 400 feet (122 m) Right Field – 310 feet (94 m) |
Surface | Artificial Turf |
Construction | |
Broke ground | October 19, 2000 [2] |
Opened | June 18, 2002 [3] |
Construction cost | $18 million [4] ($30.5 million in 2023 dollars [5] ) |
Architect | Design Exchange Architects Inc. Ripken Design |
Project manager | Heery International [6] |
General contractor | Baltimore Contractors LLC [3] |
Tenants | |
Aberdeen IronBirds (NYPL/South Atlantic League) 2002–present |
Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium is the home of the Aberdeen IronBirds, an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles in the South Atlantic League. The stadium is located in Aberdeen, Maryland. The 6,300-seat Ripken Stadium held its first game on June 18, 2002. As of 2011 the team had sold out every home game at Ripken Stadium since it began playing there in 2002. [7] [8]
The stadium is part of Cal Ripken Jr.'s Aberdeen Complex in his hometown of Aberdeen, Maryland, located just off Interstate 95 at Maryland Route 22. Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium is only 2.9 miles off the East Coast Greenway. The complex also includes several smaller fields for local youth sports leagues, as well as an adjacent Marriott hotel. The stadium is the closest structure of the complex to the highway, with the right field fence and scoreboard visible from it. The stadium hosts soccer matches as well.
The expansive parking lot of Ripken Stadium is frequently used as a venue for SCCA autocross racing for many racers on the east coast.
The stadium features a three-tiered cafe behind home plate, available for patrons who want to have dinner and drinks during a game. The upper level has a press box behind home plate, 256 club seats and six skyboxes. Ripken Stadium was one of the first short-season Single-A ballparks to have a fully enclosed club level and skyboxes. [6] A new synthetic turf playing surface and LED sports lighting were installed prior to the 2021 regular season. [9]
In 2009, The Maryland Redbirds, of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League, (the CRSCBL), played all weekday games and one weekend doubleheader at the stadium. The CRSCBL previously used the stadium for the annual all-star game in 2005 and 2007. The stadium also hosted the inaugural Ripken Cup collegiate baseball invitational between University of Maryland and Towson University on April 15, 2014 and May 7, 2014. [10] The 2016 Big East Conference baseball tournament was held in Aberdeen May 26–29.
Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr., nicknamed "the Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire 21-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his position's most productive offensive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ripken holds the record for consecutive games played (2,632), having surpassed Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years and that many deemed unbreakable. In 2007, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 98.53% of votes, the sixth-highest election percentage ever.
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The Aberdeen IronBirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in the city of Aberdeen in Harford County, Maryland. They are the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and compete in the South Atlantic League. They were previously members of the New York–Penn League from 1977 to 2020, and of the High-A East in 2021.
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Calvin Edwin Ripken Sr. was an American baseball player, scout, coach and manager. who spent 36 years in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He played in the Orioles' farm system beginning in 1957, and later served as coach and manager of the parent club, on which his sons Cal Jr. and Billy played.
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William Oliver Ripken, nicknamed "Billy the Kid", is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1987–1998 for the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians (1995), and Detroit Tigers (1998). During his career, he batted and threw right-handed. He is the younger brother of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. He currently serves as a radio host for XM Satellite Radio and a studio analyst for MLB Network.
121 Financial Ballpark is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Minor League Baseball team, who play in the International League. The facility opened in 2003.
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The IronBirds front office staff would like to send out a big "thank you" to the fans for making 2010 another sell-out season.
The 6,300 capacity stadium is one of two stadiums in the history of baseball to sell out every home game in franchise history.