Carson Park is a baseball stadium located in Carson Park, a park in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

. It was built as a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

project in 1936, and it is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. With The stadium is home to the

Eau Claire Express The Eau Claire Express is a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Northwoods League. Their home games are played at Carson Park, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. After two straight losing seasons in 2005 and 2006, the Eau Claire Express achiev ...

of the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

, the Eau Claire Cavaliers amateur team, the Eau Claire Bears amateur team, the Eau Claire Pizza Hut American Legion team, the Eau Claire Memorial, North, Regis and Immanuel Lutheran high school baseball teams, and the UW-Eau Claire club baseball team. CarsonParkBaseballStadium2009

The left field wall is adjacent to the sideline of the Carson Park football stadium field. During the football season, temporary bleachers from the baseball stadium are positioned on left field with the front of the bleachers placed along the left field wall facing the football field.

History

The land that became home to Carson Park, located on a peninsula surrounded by Half Moon Lake in Eau Claire, was donated in 1914 to the city of Eau Claire by an heir to William Carson. The following year, the park was opened. Construction of a sports complex, including a baseball stadium, football stadium and tennis courts, began in 1935 as a

project. The first game was played in the stadium on May 4, 1937, in a Northern League game between the

Eau Claire Bears The Eau Claire Bears was the primary nickname of the minor league baseball teams from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Eau Claire was a member of the Class C Northern League (1933-1942, 1946–62) and were affiliates of the Boston Red Sox (1936), Chicago C ...

and Superior Blues. The stadium later was home to the Eau Claire Braves minor league baseball team. Among those who played for the Braves were Henry Aaron,

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

Bob Uecker Robert George Uecker ( ; born January 26, 1934) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and current sportscaster, comedian, and actor. Facetiously dubbed "Mr. Baseball" by TV talk show host Johnny Carson, Uecker has served as a ...

, Andy Pafko and others who later played in Major League Baseball. Following the departure of the Braves in the 1960s, the Eau Claire Cavaliers amateur team began play in 1971. Under manager Harv Tomter, the team won 5 amateur baseball national championships. A statue honoring Henry Aaron was erected in front of the stadium in 1994. A renovation project around 1997/98 added permanent seats behind home play, benches in the lower areas of the grandstand, and a remodeled concourse and exterior. Upon the arrival of the

franchise in 2005, the stadium underwent renovations for that season. A fan deck was added in the right field corner, a children's area was added along the 3rd-base foul line near the left field corner, and an electronic message board was added to the scoreboard. The field was re-leveled and re-sodded prior to the 2007 season. The press box was expanded with new sections along the first- and third-base sides for the 2009 season.

References

External links

Ballpark Digest's Carson Park page

Eau Claire Cavaliers website

Eau Claire Express website

Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places' Carson Park page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson Park (Baseball Stadium) Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Sports in Eau Claire, Wisconsin Parks in Wisconsin Minor league baseball venues Baseball venues in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin 1937 establishments in Wisconsin Sports venues completed in 1937 College baseball venues in the United States High school baseball venues in the United States