UPMC Park, formerly known as Jerry Uht Park, is a

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

located in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

. It is the home of the Double-A

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

of the Eastern League, the city's Minor League Baseball (MiLB) franchise. The SeaWolves are affiliated with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team. It hosted its first regular season game on June 20, 1995, in which major league veteran

José Guillén José Manuel Guillén (pronounced ; born May 17, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. Guillén played for ten Major League Baseball (MLB) teams in his career. Professional career Pittsburgh Pirates Guillén was signed b ...

hit a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

to ensure a SeaWolves victory over the

Jamestown Jammers The Jamestown Jammers were a minor league baseball team based in Jamestown, New York from 1994 until 2014. The team was the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in the New York–Penn League. The team playe ...

. The park replaced

Ainsworth Field Ainsworth Field is a 3,000 seat baseball stadium located in Erie, Pennsylvania. It hosted the Erie Sailors and other Erie-based minor league teams between 1928 and 1994. In 1995, it was made obsolete for professional use by the opening of UPMC ...

, which was built in 1947, and features natural grass and dirt playing field. Its concessions include regional specialties such as pepperoni balls, ox roast sandwiches,

cheesesteak A cheesesteak (also known as a Philadelphia cheesesteak, Philly cheesesteak, cheesesteak sandwich, cheese steak, or steak and cheese) is a sandwich made from thinly sliced pieces of beefsteak and melted cheese in a long hoagie roll. A popular ...

s, and

Yuengling D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewery, brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest Craft brewery and microbrewery, craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery and l ...

beer. It is part of the Erie Civic Center Complex, which also includes

Erie Insurance Arena Erie Insurance Arena (originally known as Erie Civic Center and later, Louis J. Tullio Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the downtown area of Erie, Pennsylvania. It is home to the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League and was the forme ...

and the Warner Theatre, all governed by the Erie County Convention Center Authority. The stadium has a seating capacity of 6,000. After the 2016 season, the SeaWolves partnered with the

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and do ...

(UPMC) in a naming rights agreement to rebrand the stadium UPMC Park. In a 2008, the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

sports broadcast company ranked the ballpark number five out of ten minor league ballpark seating arrangements. They especially noted its unique mezzanine level that overlooks the infield along the first base side. In July 2015, the

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities have ...

(PETA) also ranked the stadium number five among the most vegetarian-friendly minor league ballparks.

History

Prior to UPMC Park's construction, the Erie SeaWolves (then known as the

Welland Pirates The Welland Pirates were a minor league baseball team located in Welland, Ontario. The team played in the Short-Season A classification New York–Penn League from 1989 to 1994, and were affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Their home stadiu ...

) played at

Welland Stadium Welland Stadium is a stadium in Welland, Ontario, Canada. It is primarily used for baseball and was the home of the Welland Pirates of the Short-Season A New York–Penn League who affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Niagara Star ...

Welland, Ontario Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Ontario, N ...

. They moved to Erie after owner Marvin Goldklang relocated the

Erie Sailors The Erie Sailors was the primary name of several minor league baseball teams that played in Erie, Pennsylvania between 1906 and 1994. Pre-1930s Several unrelated teams used the Erie Sailors name in the Interstate League (1906–1907, 1913, 19 ...

Wappingers Falls, New York Wappingers Falls is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 5,522. The community was named for the cascade in Wappinger Creek. The Wappingers Falls post office covers areas in the tow ...

(where they became the

Hudson Valley Renegades Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson ...

) because he did not want to upgrade

to the standards

required of its affiliated clubs. Once the civic government secured an $8 million grant from the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

to build UPMC Park, the Welland Pirates moved to Erie. The remaining $1 million for architectural expenses were covered by the City of Erie, Erie County, and the 300-member Team Erie, each of whom contributed $300,000. Additionally, nearby Millcreek Township also contributed $25,000. The ballpark site was originally home to a

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

building turned Exhibit Hall. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on July 27, 1994 and Jerry Uht Park was completed in May 1995. On July 10, 2015, Jerry Uht Park hosted

Global Force Wrestling Global Force Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett, the co-founder and former President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling), and his wife Karen Jarrett. It is ow ...

's ''Grand Slam Tour'', its first major professional wrestling event.

Original namesake

Gerard T. "Jerry" Uht, Sr. was a minor league baseball player and longtime Erie resident. In 1995, he established a $500,000 endowment with

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...

and the Erie Community Foundation to perpetually support the downtown baseball stadium. In response to his generosity, the city named Jerry Uht Park in his honor. As of January 2007, the Erie Community Foundation continues to manage the fund, valued at $750,000. The ''

Erie Times-News The ''Erie Times-News'' is a daily morning newspaper in Erie, Pennsylvania. It has a daily circulation of about 47,385 and a Sunday circulation of about 58,378. The beginning The newspaper was founded as the ''Erie Daily Times'' on April 12, 188 ...

'' indicated that the fund is designated for stadium maintenance expenses and equipment purchases. The name remained in use until a naming rights agreement with the

(UPMC) after the 2016 season resulted in a name change to "UPMC Park."

Features

Seating along UPMC Park's first and third base lines has a unique configuration due to the space constraints of an urban construction. There are three main concession stands and a picnic area for fans, plus six luxury suites for special occasions. The ballpark is known for its two distinctive grandstands, each with its own design. In 2006, the park was renovated at a cost of $4 million. Additions included a new electronic scoreboard (which has a nautical theme featuring "Erie" spelled out with

international maritime signal flags International maritime signal flags are various flags used to communicate with ships. The principal system of flags and associated codes is the International Code of Signals. Various navies have flag systems with additional flags and codes, and ...

), a two-tiered picnic area, eleven luxury box seats, and new concession stands. An additional videoboard was added to

, which borders the stadium, that displays scores from other Eastern League games, player statistics, and information about the

. UPMC Park's batting zone resembles that of

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, the Tigers had played at the ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, exaggerating the contour of the regulation home plate. In spring 2012, a new wall was constructed along the park's border with Erie Insurance Arena. The ''

'' dubbed it the "Gray Monster," an allusion to

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters. Overview The wall was part ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Despite the wall's height, the home-run marker was maintained at . Its construction was part of the $42 million renovation of Erie Insurance Arena, which lies a mere from the left-field boundary. Additionally, the left-field pole was moved from its original from home-plate to and the batting cages were relocated from left-field to right-center, near the scoreboard. On August 13, 2018, Pennsylvania Governor

Tom Wolf Thomas Westerman Wolf (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 47th governor of Pennsylvania since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican incumbent Tom Corbett in the 2014 guber ...

announced UPMC Park would receive Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program funding totaling $12 million for upgrades to UPMC Park. Enhancements are expected to include updated video boards, renovated suite, concession and restroom areas, and a new left field stadium entrance featuring a climate-controlled team store and stadium club.

Gallery

File:ErieUht.jpg, Outfield of UPMC Park, 2007 File:Jerryuht2.jpg, Infield of UPMC Park, 2007 File:UPMCParkUpperLevel.jpg, UPMC Park Upper Level, Erie, PA July 18, 2021 File:UPMC Park Plate.jpg, UPMC Park Home Plate, Erie, PA July 18, 2021 File:UPMCParkScoreboard.jpg, UPMC Park Scoreboard, Erie, PA July 18, 2021

Concessions

Happy Howler, LLC, manages the concessions at UPMC Park, offering a typical ballpark menu of

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically Ground beef, beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles ...

nachos Nachos are a Mexican culinary dish consisting of fried tortilla chips or ''totopos'' covered with melted cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats (such as ground beef or grilled chicken ...

, and

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s. Some regional specialties include Erie-made pepperoni balls, ox roast sandwiches, and

s. The most distinctive concession is the Smith's Sausage Shack, which grills German bratwurst,

Italian sausage In North America, Italian sausage (''salsiccia'' in Italian) most often refers to a style of pork sausage. The sausage is often noted for being seasoned with fennel as the primary seasoning. In Italy, however, a wide variety of sausages are made, ...

, Polish kiełbasa, and Cajun sausage along with the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

-brewed

beer. Options for health-conscious,

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

, and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

customers include

veggie burger A veggie burger is a hamburger patty that does not contain meat. It may be made from ingredients like beans, especially soybeans and tofu, nuts, grains, seeds or fungi such as mushrooms or mycoprotein. The patties that are the essence of a veg ...

s and

burrito A burrito (, ) is a dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or steamed ...

bowls.

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

has exclusive pouring rights at UPMC Park for

soft drinks A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a s ...

. In 2017, the Mojo & AC Rocket Dog, a Smith's hot dog topped with pulled pork, mac & cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce, was named the top food item in Minor League Baseball's BUSH's Home Run Recipes Contest. The SeaWolves organization repeated as champions in 2018 with their Fiesta Burger, topped with pepper jack cheese, bacon, guacamole, onion strings and Bush's Black Beans. Also during 2018, the facility offered a hot dog topped with Nerds candy in a cotton candy bun. This outrageous item earned national recognition and notoriety for the SeaWolves organization.

References

External links

UPMC Park
(Erie SeaWolves official website)
ESPN's Travel Ten: The Best of the Minor Leagues

A View from My Seat

Stadium Journey visit

Ballpark Reviews visit

Ballpark Guide visit

{{authority control Erie, Pennsylvania Sports venues in Pennsylvania Baseball venues in Pennsylvania Minor league baseball venues College baseball venues in the United States High school baseball venues in the United States Sports in Erie, Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Erie, Pennsylvania Erie SeaWolves Tourist attractions in Erie, Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Eastern League (1938–present) ballparks