![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(May 2011) |
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Former names | Municipal Stadium (1982–1993) |
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Location | 1771 Energy Park Drive St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 |
Owner | City of St. Paul |
Operator | St. Paul Parks and Recreation |
Capacity | 2,100 (1982–1993) 5,000 (1993–1995) 6,069 (1995–2014) |
Field size | Left Field: 320 ft (98 m) Center Field: 400 ft (120 m) Right Field: 320 ft (98 m) |
Construction | |
Opened | September 1982 |
Demolished | June 2015 [1] [2] |
Construction cost | $3 million USD |
Tenants | |
Hamline University (MIAC) (1982–2014) St. Paul Saints (NoL/AA) (1993–2014) |
Midway Stadium was the name of two different minor league baseball parks in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, both now demolished. The name derived from the location of the stadium in Saint Paul's Midway area, so named because it is roughly halfway between the downtowns of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
The first Midway Stadium was the home of the St. Paul Saints of the American Association from 1957–1960. It was located at 1000 North Snelling Avenue, on the east side of that street. It was built with just a small uncovered and presumably expandable grandstand. It was intended to compete with Metropolitan Stadium for attracting a major league baseball team, but the already-larger capacity of "The Met" doomed Midway Stadium. It was abandoned for professional baseball once the Twins arrived in 1961 and displaced both the Saints and the Minneapolis Millers. It was used for by the Minnesota Norsemen professional softball team of the American Professional Slow Pitch Softball League (APSPL) for their 1977-1979 seasons. [3] [4] It was also used as a Minnesota Vikings practice field for the next 20 years, and finally demolished in 1981 to make way for the Energy Park. That development, with all new streets and various buildings, rubbed out any trace of the ballpark's existence.
The second Midway Stadium was built in 1982 at roughly half the size of its namesake. It was located at 1771 Energy Park Drive. It was on the north side of the road, just west of Snelling, complemented by the Burlington Northern tracks to the north just beyond left field. Thus, it was about a mile west of the first Midway Stadium site. The ballpark started out in life as Municipal Stadium. It was home of Hamline University's baseball team. Despite its baseball configurations, some small private schools in St. Paul played football games at Midway in the fall. When Mike Veeck and Bill Murray revived the Saints and also the independent Northern League in 1993, they set up shop there, at the soon-rechristened Midway Stadium. Midway Stadium was also used, occasionally, for rock concerts and other events. In April 2014 it was announced that pioneering alternative rock band The Replacements would hold a hometown reunion concert at the venue on September 13, 2014. [5]
The Saints' slogan is "Fun Is Good" and Mike Veeck has proudly declared that Midway Stadium is "The ugliest ballpark in America!" [6] Mike's late father, Bill Veeck, Jr. is a well-known baseball owner and counts one of his accomplishments as planting the ivy at Wrigley Field. [7]
2014 was the final season for both Hamline and the Saints at Midway Stadium. Both teams moved into the new ballpark CHS Field in time for the 2015 season. Midway Stadium was torn down in 2015. The 12-acre site will be used for an office or warehouse development, which is in line with the industrial area that surrounds the stadium. [1] [2]
Midway Stadium (I)
Midway Stadium (II)
Metropolitan Stadium was an outdoor sports stadium in the north central United States, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They previously played at Midway Stadium from 1993 to 2014.
The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in Athletic Park and later Nicollet Park.
Gratia Alta Countryman was a nationally-known librarian who led the Minneapolis Public Library from 1904 to 1936. She was the daughter of immigrant farmers Alta and Levi Countryman. She pioneered many ways to make the library more accessible and user-friendly to all of the city's residents, regardless of age or economic position. Countryman was called the "first lady of Minneapolis" and the "Jane Addams of the libraries".
Nicollet Park was a baseball ground located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The venue was home to the minor league Minneapolis Millers of the Western League and later American Association from 1896 to 1955.
Lexington Park was the name of a former minor league baseball park in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was the home of the St. Paul Saints from 1897 through 1956, when it was replaced by the first version of Midway Stadium.
Calvin Robertson Griffith, born Calvin Griffith Robertson, was a Canadian-born American Major League Baseball team owner. As president, majority owner and de facto general manager of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise of the American League from 1955 through 1984, he orchestrated the transfer of the Senators after 60 years in Washington, D.C., to Minneapolis–Saint Paul in the autumn of 1960 to create the Twins. He was famous for his devotion to the game and for his sayings. He was the last MLB owner who had no income apart from his franchise.
The Great Central League was a short-lived baseball league of four teams that played baseball in the upper Midwest of the United States in 1994. The league and four teams were owned by Minneapolis-based strip club owner, Dick Jacobson, who previously attempted to purchase the Rochester Aces of the Northern League.
The Western League was the name of several minor league baseball leagues that operated between 1885 and 1900. These leagues were focused mainly in the Midwestern United States.
Athletic Park was the home of the Minneapolis Millers baseball team from 1889 to mid-season 1896. The park was located behind the West Hotel at 6th St and 1st Ave North in Minneapolis near where Target Center and Target Field are today.
Target Field is a baseball stadium in the historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Target Corporation, which is headquartered in Minneapolis. The stadium hosted the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It has also served as the home of other local and regional baseball events.
Stew Thornley is an author of books on sports history, particularly in his home state. He is an official scorer and online gamecaster for the Minnesota Twins. Thornley also does official scoring for Minnesota Timberwolves basketball games.
Halsey Lewis Hall was a sports reporter and announcer in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area from 1919 until the 1970s.
Downtown Saint Paul is the central business district of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River to the south, University Avenue to the north, US 52 to the east, and Kellogg Boulevard to the west. It is bounded by the Dayton's Bluff, Summit-University, West Seventh, Frogtown, West Side, and Payne-Phalen neighborhoods. The West Side neighborhood is on the other side of the river, and can be accessed via the Robert Street Bridge or the Wabasha Street Bridge. Interstate 35E and Interstate 94 run through the north side of the neighborhood, providing a separation between the Minnesota State Capitol and other state government buildings with the rest of downtown.
The St. Paul Saints were a 20th-century Minor League Baseball team that played in the American Association from 1901 to 1960 in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota. The 1920, 1922, and 1923 Saints are recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.
Rolland John Seltz was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) during its first year of existence. He played 34 games for the Anderson Packers during the 1949–50 season.
CHS Field is a baseball park in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is home to the St. Paul Saints of the International League of Minor League Baseball, as well as home to Hamline University's baseball team. With the Saints' affiliation to the Minnesota Twins, beginning in 2021, CHS Field is the second smallest Triple-A ballpark in the Minors, and the closest to its tenant's parent MLB club.
The Minnesota Norsemen were a professional softball team that played in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. The team had played as the Minnesota Goofy's in the 1977 season, changing names for 1978. They played their home games at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Hamline-Midway, or just Midway, is a neighborhood and city planning district in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the United States. It is Planning District 11. The neighborhood is bounded by Transfer Road on the west, University Avenue on the south, Lexington Parkway on the east, and by the railroad tracks just north of the Pierce Butler Route, on the north. The unofficial boundaries are more loosely defined, however, and the term "Midway" is applied throughout this part of Saint Paul, often well beyond the actual location of the district. The 'Midway' name comes from being midway between downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul.
Events and tenants | ||
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Preceded by first venue | Home of the St. Paul Saints 1993–2014 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by first venue | Host of the NoL All-Star Game Midway Stadium 1997 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Host of the AAB All-Star Game Midway Stadium 2008 | Succeeded by |