Estadio Nacional Soberanía ( es, Estadio Nacional Soberanía, links=no) is located in

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicar ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. It has a capacity of 15,000 and it was named after former

MLB 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), ...

player

Dennis Martínez José Dennis Martínez Ortiz (born May 14, 1955), nicknamed "El Presidente" (The President), is a Nicaraguan professional baseball pitcher. Martínez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Montreal Expos, Cleveland India ...

. The original stadium was built in 1948 and is

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. It is used mainly for

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 t ...

but also serves as a venue for concerts,

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, football, religious events and had a capacity of 30,100 people. It is the home stadium of

Indios del Bóer The Indios del Bóer are a professional baseball team based in Managua, Nicaragua competing in the Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League. Their home games are played at the Dennis Martínez National Stadium. They have won the Nicaraguan league ei ...

baseball team and

Deportivo Walter Ferretti Club Deportivo Walter Ferretti is a Nicaraguan football team who play in the Nicaraguan Premier Division. They are based in Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map ...

football team. Inside the stadium is a hall of fame near the entrance showing medals, cups, photos and memories of Nicaraguan players. There is also a gym located inside.

Renaming

The stadium has been renamed three times. Built in 1948, it was originally named "El Estadio Nacional" (The National Stadium). After the 1972 earthquake that struck

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicar ...

and destroyed 90% of the city, it was rebuilt and renamed after

Anastasio Somoza García Anastasio Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was the leader of Nicaragua from 1937 until his assassination in 1956. He was only officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 195 ...

. In 1979, after the

Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto C� ...

s overthrew the Somoza dynasty, it was renamed in honor of

Rigoberto López Pérez Rigoberto López Pérez (May 13, 1929 – September 21, 1956) was a Nicaraguan poet, artist and composer. He assassinated Anastasio Somoza García, the longtime dictator of Nicaragua. On September 21, 1981, 25 years after his death, the Sandin ...

, the man who, in 1956, assassinated

. On November 20, 1998, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the stadium, then-President Arnoldo Alemán issued a decree changing the stadium's name to Estadio Nacional Dennis Martínez.

,Clem's Baseball ~ Estadio Dennis Martinez
/ref> born in 1955 (several years after this stadium had opened), was

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), ...

's first Nicaraguan-born player.

New Dennis Martinez National Stadium

The new Dennis Martinez National Stadium was sponsored by the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

government and began construction in 2016. It was completed in October 2017. The first sport event in the stadium was the Baseball series of three games between

& Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in October 20–22, 2017. It played host to the Central American Games in 2017. The stadium, located near the Tiscapa lagoon, is approximately 3 kilometers southeast of the original stadium. It was designed by Dynamica and it has a capacity of 15,000. The field meets Major League Baseball specifications and could potentially host a Major League Baseball game.

References

External links

Instituto Nicaragüense
de Juventud y Deporte
''World Stadiums'' page

1948 establishments in Nicaragua Athletics (track and field) venues in Nicaragua Baseball venues in Nicaragua Football venues in Managua

Sports venues completed in 1948 Buildings and structures in Managua Tourist attractions in Managua {{baseball-venue-stub

Renaming

New Dennis Martinez National Stadium

See also

References

External links