Nienhaus Field, formally Goodland Field, is a sports park in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...

. It was originally named after Appleton mayor John Goodland.''

The Post Crescent ''The Post-Crescent'' is a daily newspaper based in Appleton, Wisconsin. Part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, it is primarily distributed in counties surrounding the Appleton/Fox Cities area. History ''The Appleton Crescent'' was formed in ...

''
"Fox Cities baseball tradition goes way back"
/ref>

History

The ballpark opened in 1940 as the Spencer Street Athletic Field and was 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 ...

. The first team to play in the stadium was the

Appleton Papermakers The Appleton Papermakers were a minor league baseball team located in Appleton, Wisconsin. They were part of the Wisconsin-Illinois League from 1909-1914 and was in the Wisconsin State League from 1940-1942 and 1946-1953. The team was coached by ...

, who played there from

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

and from

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

.A Tribute to Goodland Field
/ref> The primary team to play at the field, however, was the

Appleton Foxes Appleton may refer to: People and fictional characters * Appleton (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Appleton family, an American political, religious and mercantile family * Appleton P. Clark Jr. (1865–1955), Am ...

, a minor league baseball team that played there from

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

until August 29,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. The team then moved to

Fox Cities Stadium Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium is a baseball park in Grand Chute, Wisconsin (although it has an Appleton mailing address). It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Midwest Lea ...

, becoming the

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are nam ...

in the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

season. The season attendance the last seven years at Goodland Field (

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

-94) ranged from 46,576 to 85,310, while the season attendance the first seven years at Fox Cities Stadium ranged from 207,823 to 233,797. Goodland Field was taken over by the Appleton Area School District, which converted the site into a sports complex and renamed it Nienhaus Field after

Appleton West High School Appleton West High School (or AWHS, formerly known as Appleton Senior High School or Appleton High School) is a comprehensive public secondary school located in Appleton, Wisconsin that serves students in the ninth through twelfth grades. The ...

teacher and successful coach and 1994 Wisconsin State Golf Hall of Fame member, Mary Beth Nienhaus. Nienhaus Field is used regularly by Appleton West baseball and softball teams, as well as a number of area baseball, softball, and soccer teams, including The Appleton Legends. Goodland Field's most famous player may have been

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

third baseman

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop, third baseman and designated hitter and current businessman. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (ML ...

, who played a short time in the venue's final season, 1994.

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

pitcher

Tom Gordon Thomas Gordon (born November 18, 1967), nicknamed "Flash", is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher and current radio color commentator for the Boston Red Sox. Gordon played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kan ...

also played for the Foxes, between the time he was drafted in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and when he was called up to the majors in

References

External links

* Goodland Field Photos: http://www.digitalballparks.com/Midwest/Goodland.html
ballparkreviews.com
{{coord, 44.25778, -88.42972, region:US, format=dms, display=title Baseball venues in Wisconsin Minor league baseball venues Buildings and structures in Appleton, Wisconsin 1940 establishments in Wisconsin Sports venues completed in 1940 High school baseball venues in the United States Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct minor league baseball venues Defunct Midwest League ballparks Sports in Appleton, Wisconsin