Red McEwen Field (originally USF Baseball Field) was a

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 ...

venue A venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a conce ...

located on the campus of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States. It opened in 1967 and had a capacity of 2,500 for most of its history. "The Red" was home to the

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, a n ...

team from 1967 to 2010.Red McEwen Field
at gousfbulls.com, URL accessed December 21, 2009
Archived
12/21/09 Besides hosting USF baseball for over 40 years, Red McEwen Field was the temporary home of the Class-A minor league

Tampa Yankees Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough C ...

, who played their first two seasons there in 1994 and 1995 while their permanent home at Legends Field was under construction.Red McEwen Field
at ballparkreviews.com, URL accessed December 21, 2009

12/12/09 Red McEwan Field was demolished after the Bulls' 2010 baseball season and the new USF Baseball Stadium was built at the same location in time for their 2011 season.

History

The field opened in 1967, after the Bulls played their first season of baseball at

Al Lopez Field Al López Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball ballpark in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al López, the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined i ...

. South Florida lost their first game at the facility 8–6 to

Rollins College Rollins College is a Liberal arts college, private liberal arts college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several master's programs. Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institut ...

on March 4, 1967. On March 18, 1967, the Bulls recorded their first win at the field, a 7–3 victory against St. Andrews College. The ballpark was known as simply the "USF Baseball Field" until March 30, 1977, when it was renamed in honor of James "Red" McEwen, a civic leader who helped to establish the university as well as an early booster of the university's athletic programs. He was also the brother of iconic longtime

Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...

sports editor Tom McEwen. A plaque honoring McEwen sat at the entrance to the stadium and was later moved to the entrance of the new USF Baseball Stadium after it was constructed to replace McEwen Field in 2011. A decade after its 1967 construction, a lighting system donated by

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 ...

owner

George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...

was installed, along with added seating that brought the stadium's capacity to 2,500. The field's first night game was played on February 25, 1977, a victory against the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

. New concessions and restrooms were built in 1982, and a

press box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the ...

followed in 1983. In 1997, a new lighting system was installed. The

Class-A Advanced affiliate

called the stadium home for their 1994 and 1995 seasons. Future

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

inductees

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and

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and " ...

played during portions of those seasons. On March 26, 2010, Bulls

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Randy Fontanez threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

at the field. The Bulls played their final game at McEwen Field on May 16, 2010, losing to the

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

Huskies 10–3. Former USF players and coaches participated in a pregame ceremony honoring the field. Following the 2010 season, Red McEwen Field was demolished and construction began on a new baseball stadium complex. The new facility, USF Baseball Stadium at Red McEwen Field, stands on the same site as McEwen Field, though its alignment was changed to accommodate a new concourse area shared with the (also new)

USF Softball Stadium The University of South Florida athletic facilities are the stadiums and arenas the South Florida Bulls use for their home games and training. The University of South Florida currently sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and has 11 facilities in the ...

References

{{South Florida Bulls baseball navbox Baseball venues in Florida 1967 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1967 2010 disestablishments in Florida South Florida Bulls baseball venues Florida State League ballparks Sports venues demolished in 2010 South Florida Bulls sports venues