Banner Island Ballpark is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

stadium located in Stockton, California, on the Stockton waterfront, which seats 5,200 people with 4,200 fixed seats. It is the home field of the Stockton Ports, a minor league affiliate of the Oakland Athletics in the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

, who moved there after spending several decades at their previous home Billy Hebert Field.

History

The $22 million Banner Island Ballpark opened with a baseball game on April 28, 2005, during which the Stockton Ports defeated the

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

, 7–4, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,287 fans. The ballpark is a part of a revitalization project for the Downtown Stockton waterfront. It was built concurrently with the

Stockton Arena Stockton Arena is an indoor arena in Stockton, California. It opened in December 2005 and seats a maximum of 12,000 fans. It is the home venue of the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League. Former tenants include the Stockton Heat of the American H ...

and will be integrated with a waterfront park as part of the

Stockton Waterfront Events Center The Stockton Waterfront Events Center is a commercial complex in Stockton, California on the Stockton waterfront. Also known as the Waterfront Entertainment Complex, it includes the 12,000-seat Stockton Arena, the 5,000-seat Banner Island Ba ...

. The Banner Island area is also the purported home of a previous Stockton baseball team that played in the late 1800s. Local residents claim that the team was the inspiration for the Mudville Nine in "

Casey at the Bat Casey at the Bat is a poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. Casey at the Bat may also refer to: * ''Casey at the Bat'' (1916 film), a film based on the poem * ''Casey at the Bat'' (1927 film), a film based on the poem * ''Casey at the Bat'', a ...

", a poem by

Ernest Thayer Ernest Lawrence Thayer (; August 14, 1863 – August 21, 1940) was an American writer and poet who wrote the poem "Casey" (or "Casey at the Bat"), which is "the single most famous baseball poem ever written" according to the Baseball Almanac, an ...

. Before moving to the ballpark, the Stockton Ports were known as the Mudville Nine during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

Name

The name "Banner Island Ballpark" is actually an unofficial name that is used among fans and the administration of the Stockton Ports. The City of Stockton owns the naming rights of the ballpark and until the rights are sold the stadium is officially known as Stockton Ballpark. The ballpark gets its unofficial name from the area in which it is located, Banner Island. This was once an island in the San Joaquin River

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

, noted during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

for the huge "Stars and Stripes" posted by a Union supporter. In time the island was connected to the mainland through

land fill Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

and only the southern shore remains. Despite the fact the area is no longer an island, the Banner Island name has stuck.

References

External links

Stockton Ports Ballpark HistorySMG Stockton: Stockton Ballpark
Banner Island Ballpark

Banner Island Ballpark Views
Stockton Ports
Stadium Journey-Banner Island Ballpark {{California League ballparks Minor league baseball venues Baseball venues in California 2005 establishments in California Sports venues completed in 2005 California League ballparks