Daniel S. Frawley Stadium is a

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. It is primarily used for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, and is the home field of the Wilmington Blue Rocks

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/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

baseball team. The park was originally known as Legends Stadium when it was built in 1993. It was renamed in 1994 for Wilmington mayor Daniel S. Frawley, who had pushed for a return of the Blue Rocks. The field is named separately for Judy Johnson, a local

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

star.

History

The stadium was designed by architect Trish England, head of Design Exchange, who had previously designed dozens of commercial buildings in Delaware. Construction began on November 1, 1992, and was headed by contractor Matthew Minker, a part owner of the team. The stadium site was once part of a

Christina River The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware. It also flows through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth, the river ...

shipbuilding operation. In 1986, the Dravo Shipyard, with several buildings, was bought by Verino Pettinaro, a local contractor, for a little more than $1 million. Pettinaro sold for the stadium to the Delaware Stadium Corporation for $300,000. The Delaware Stadium Corporation, a city and state entity, has owned the stadium since its construction.

Amenities

The stadium seats 6,404 people. The Blue Rocks have a picnic area in the stadium named the Blue Moose Grill and a gift shop, The Quarry. A formerly abandoned building across the street has been renovated to be similar to

Camden Yards Oriole Park at Camden Yards, commonly known as Camden Yards, is a ballpark in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the Baseball park#Retro-classic ballparks, "retro" major le ...

. The facility is administered by the Delaware Stadium Corporation.

Other uses

In 1995 and from 1997 to 2001, stadium hosted the America East Conference baseball tournament. The hosting Delaware Blue Hens won the tournament in each year except for 1997. In 1998, the stadium hosted the Delaware Stars, a team in the single-season Maryland Fall Baseball league. The

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame was founded in 1976. Al Cartwright, who helped found it, was its first president and was inducted to its hall of fame in 1980. The current museum building was constructed in 1993. The Delaware Sports ...

has exhibit space through an entrance on the outside of the stadium. The stadium has also held many concerts, including

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

, the

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles ...

, and recently the Round the Bases Tour, which featured Counting Crows,

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

, and Collective Soul. Starting in 2008, the Delaware Indo-American festival was held at the site.

References

External links

Official Team website

Delaware Stadium Corporation website

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame website

{{South Atlantic League ballparks Baseball venues in Delaware Buildings and structures in Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington Riverfront Minor league baseball venues Tourist attractions in Wilmington, Delaware Sports venues completed in 1993 1993 establishments in Delaware Sports venues in the Delaware Valley South Atlantic League ballparks

History

Amenities

Other uses

References

Further reading

External links