Ray Winder Field
Encyclopedia
Baseball park
A baseball park, also known as a baseball stadium, ball park, or ballpark is a venue where baseball is played. It consists of the playing field and the surrounding spectator seating...
in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. The ballpark was constructed during 1931, as a new home field for the Arkansas Travelers
Arkansas Travelers
The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Major League club....
minor league
Minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in...
baseball team. The Travelers vacated Kavanaugh Field
Kavanaugh Field
Kavanaugh Field was a minor league baseball park in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the home of the Little Rock Travelers prior to their move to Travelers Field in 1932....
, near Little Rock Central High School, and opened their 1932 season on April 13 at the newly completed ballpark, which was initially called Travelers Field for the team name.
The ballpark sits with home plate in roughly the north-northwest corner of the property. The current boundaries of the park are Interstate 630 (south, right field); Jonesboro Drive (west, right field corner); South Monroe Street (west, first base stands); buildings on driveway extended from Ray Winder Drive (north, third base stands); buildings bordering South Palm Street (east, right field).
On August 26, 1966, Traveler Field was renamed Ray Winder Field, after a man who had devoted most of his life to minor league baseball in Little Rock. Winder started as a ticket seller in 1915, was named as the Arkansas Traveler business manager in 1931, and became part owner in 1944. The Traveler franchise was moved to Shreveport following the 1958 season, leaving Little Rock without a baseball club for the first time since 1914. Traveler Field sat empty during the 1959 season while efforts continued to return minor league baseball to Little Rock. After a public stock drive raised funds to purchase a bankrupt New Orleans franchise, the Travelers were resurrected in Little Rock for the 1960 season. Ray Winder was again asked to manage the day to day details of rebuilding the club.
In 1976, Bill Valentine, a former American League umpire, was chosen as general manager for the Travelers. Faced with an aging ballpark and limited funds, Valentine began to promote the historic nature of Ray Winder Field. The ballpark gained recognition as one of the oldest still active parks in minor league baseball, and fans traveled to Little Rock to experience the nostalgia and sample the baseball history represented by Ray Winder Field. The home of the Arkansas Travelers was regarded as a great place to see old-time baseball, wholesome entertainment aimed squarely at the family market.
In 2005, construction began on a new ballpark in North Little Rock which would eventually become the home of the Arkansas Travelers. On September 3, 2006, the final game of the 2006 season, a capacity crowd filled Ray Winder Field as fans returned for the last Traveler game at Ray Winder Field. During this game, which concluded 74 years of minor league baseball at this ballpark, the Travelers beat the Springfield Cardinals by a score of 7 to 3. Beginning with the 2007 season, the Arkansas Travelers home ballpark is Dickey-Stephens Park
Dickey-Stephens Park
Dickey-Stephens Park is a stadium in North Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. It is primarily used for baseball and serves as the home for the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League. The fixed seat capacity of the ballpark is 5,800 people. It opened in 2007 as a replacement for Ray Winder Field...
in North Little Rock.
Ultimately, and somewhat predictably, the decision was made to sell the park to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, with all structures to be razed and the land cleared for use as a parking lot. The City of Little Rock again confirmed that the city had no interest in helping to turn Ray Winder Field into a landmark ball park as had been done with Rickwood Field
Rickwood Field
Rickwood FieldFacility StatisticsLocation1137 2nd Avenue WestBirmingham, AlabamaBroke GroundSpring 1910Cost$75,000OpenedAugust 18, 1910SurfaceGrassOwnerCity of BirminghamTenantsBirmingham Barons 1910-1961...
in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. Several sales were held to disperse remaining artifacts to baseball fans from across the country who had visited this ballpark, and on May 14, 2011, the park was opened for a final time when the remaining wooden seats, dating to 1932, were dismantled and given to fans on a first-come, first-served basis.