Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium is the home of the

Aberdeen IronBirds The Aberdeen IronBirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in the city of Aberdeen in Harford County, Maryland. They are the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and compete in the South Atlantic League. They were previously members of the ...

, an affiliate of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. The stadium is located in

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimor ...

. The 6,300-seat Ripken Stadium held its first game on June 18, 2002. As of 2011 the team had sold out every home game at Ripken Stadium since it began playing there in 2002. The stadium is part of

Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed " The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his posit ...

's Aberdeen Complex in his hometown of Aberdeen, Maryland, located just off Interstate 95 at

Maryland Route 22 Maryland Route 22 (MD 22) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 1 Business (Bel Air, Maryland), U.S. Route 1 Business (US 1 Business) and Maryland Route 924, MD 924 in Bel Air, Maryland, Bel Ai ...

. Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium is only 2.9 miles off the

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

. The complex also includes several smaller fields for local youth sports leagues, as well as an adjacent

Marriott Marriott may refer to: People *Marriott (surname) Corporations * Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993 * Marriott International, international hote ...

hotel. The stadium is the closest structure of the complex to the highway, with the right field fence and scoreboard visible from it. The stadium hosts soccer matches as well. The expansive parking lot of Ripken Stadium is frequently used as a venue for

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

autocross Autocross (also called "Solo", "Auto-x" or "Autoslalom") is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competitio ...

racing for many racers on the east coast.

Features

The stadium features a three-tiered cafe behind home plate, available for patrons who want to have dinner and drinks during a game. The upper level has a press box behind home plate, 256 club seats and six skyboxes. Ripken Stadium was one of the first short-season Single-A ballparks to have a fully enclosed club level and skyboxes. A new synthetic turf playing surface and LED sports lighting were installed prior to the 2021 regular season.

Notable events

In 2009, The Maryland Redbirds, of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League, (the

CRSCBL The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan areas. The CRCBL is a member of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NA ...

), played all weekday games and one weekend doubleheader at the stadium. The

previously used the stadium for the annual all-star game in 2005 and 2007. The stadium also hosted the inaugural Ripken Cup collegiate baseball invitational between University of Maryland and Towson University on April 15, 2014 and May 7, 2014. The

2016 Big East Conference baseball tournament The 2016 Big East Conference baseball tournament was held at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Maryland from May 26 through 29. The event, held at the end of the conference regular season, determined the champion of the Big East Confere ...

was held in Aberdeen May 26–29. Ripken Stadium-lnside

References

External links

Official WebsiteAberdeen Ironbirds: Ripken StadiumMaryland Stadium Authority: Ripken Stadium
{{South Atlantic League ballparks Baseball venues in Maryland Minor league baseball venues Soccer venues in Maryland Aberdeen, Maryland 2002 establishments in Maryland College baseball venues in the United States Sports venues completed in 2002 South Atlantic League ballparks