Legends Field is a
baseball park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
in
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
, located in the Kansas City neighborhood of
Piper
Piper may refer to:
People
* Piper (given name)
* Piper (surname)
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics
* Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe
* Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe
Television
* Piper Chapman, lea ...
. It is the home of the
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...
of the
American Association of Professional Baseball
The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...
. It was formerly home of the Kansas City Wizards (now
Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...
) of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
. It is located in the
Village West area at 1800 Village West Parkway. Many local area High School teams, including
Bonner Springs High School
Bonner Springs High School is the public secondary school in Bonner Springs, Kansas, United States. It is the only high school operated by Bonner Springs–Edwardsville USD 204 school district.
Athletics
Bonner Springs High School, a KSHSAA 5A s ...
, in their annual Butch Foster Memorial Baseball Classic play at the ballpark. It has been used for concerts and some community events.
Description
![CommunityAmerica Ballpark2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/CommunityAmerica_Ballpark2.JPG)
The ballpark was originally named after
CommunityAmerica Credit Union
CommunityAmerica Credit Union (CACU) is a credit union headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, regulated under the authority of the Missouri Division of Credit Unions and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) of the U.S. federal government. C ...
, a Kansas City area financial institution, which held naming rights to the park from 2002 to 2017. The reported dimensions of CommunityAmerica are down the left field line (with an wall, affectionately known as "the Little Green Monster"), to left center, to dead center, to right center, and down the right field line. Walls are about five feet high, with the exception of the Little Green Monster and the bullpen area in left center.
The walls are about high at the bullpens, which are in center field and add a few extra angles and contours to the outfield. The playing and seating areas are completely surrounded by a wide concourse.
With the addition of bleacher seats in 2008, the park has 6,537 fixed seats, though its capacity (including the concourse, picnic area, right field grass berm, and center field party area) is usually considered over 7,500.
History
Ground was broken on September 4, 2002, and was completed in just over nine months by Titan Construction, opening June 6, 2003. Baseball had a record paid attendance of 10,345 on June 23, 2007.
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
attendance, with the new seating configuration, regularly exceeds 8,000, and its record paid attendance was 10,385 on March 29, 2008. The 2006 Northern League All-Star game was held at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on July 18, with related festivities the day before.
Sporting Kansas City played its home games at the stadium while the team's new stadium was being constructed. Because of the soccer presence, the Baseball configuration had taken an unusual step. In most natural grass fields the base lines where baserunners run between bases is dirt. However, CommunityAmerica Ballpark had dirt sliding pits just around the three bases, homeplate, and the pitchers mound, much like most typical artificial turf baseball fields. This was so that grounds crews would not need to install excessive amounts of grass for each Wizards home game. On March 29, 2008, the Wizards played their first game at the ballpark and defeated
D.C. United
D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...
2–0 in front of a sell-out crowd.
Before the start of the 2008 season, the left field berm area was replaced with permanent bleacher seats. Additional metal bleachers were added on the concourse running from behind the former left field berm to the bullpens in center field. This added 2,172 to the ballpark's fixed
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
, raising it from its originally 4,365 fixed seats.
On June 3, 2007 the ballpark was the site of a
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
-setting performance of the
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
hit "
Smoke on the Water
"Smoke on the Water" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, first released from the band's sixth studio album ''Machine Head'' (1972), which chronicles the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino.
In a 2004 publication by ''Rolling Stone'' magaz ...
" by 1683 guitarists, in a publicity stunt for KYYS radio (now
KZPT
KZPT (99.7 FM broadcasting, FM) is a hot adult contemporary radio station licensed to and serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. It first began broadcasting in 1962 under the callsign (radio), call sign KMBC-FM. The station is owned by Auda ...
).
On November 20, 2017, the T-Bones announced that the naming rights agreement between the team and CommunityAmerica would not be renewed, with the facility being named T-Bones Stadium on an interim basis. In July 2019, the T-Bones reached a naming-rights deal with Kansas City-based Pro Athlete, Inc. to use their JustBats brand in renaming the playing surface JustBats Field at T-Bones Stadium.
The
Unified Government of
Wyandotte County
Wyandotte County (; county code WY) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,245, making it Kansas's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Kansas City, with which ...
/
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
evicted the T-Bones from the stadium on October 14, 2019 for failure to keep up rent and utility payments. Days later, the Unified Government approved a stadium lease with an organization trying to purchase the T-Bones. The purchase was completed. The new five-year lease has three five-year options.
''
The Kansas City Star
''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...
'' reported in December 2020 that the Kansas City NWSL team would play home matches in the stadium.
In January 2021, the stadium was renamed "Field of Legends" to reflect the T-Bones rebranding as the Monarchs. It is now called "Legends Field".
Gallery
File:Left field wall of Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas.JPG, Left field wall displaying the Retired number
Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows upon a player, usually after the player has left the team, retires from the sport, or dies, by taking his or her former number out of circulation. Once a number is retired, no future pla ...
of Buck O'Neil
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. (November 13, 1911 – October 6, 2006) was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout and became the first Afric ...
File:Community America Ballpark scoreboard.JPG, Scoreboard
File:Community America Ballpark view from left field stands.JPG, View from left field stands
File:Community America Ballpark view from right sideline stands.JPG, View from right sideline stands
File:Kansas City NWSL 2021.jpg, The stadium's soccer configuration in 2021
References
External links
Official website
{{American Association Ballparks
Former Major League Soccer stadiums
Minor league baseball venues
Sports in the Kansas City metropolitan area
Sports venues in Kansas
Soccer venues in Kansas
Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Kansas
Tourist attractions in Wyandotte County, Kansas
Sporting Kansas City
Baseball venues in Kansas
2003 establishments in Kansas
Sports venues completed in 2003
College baseball venues in the United States
National Women's Soccer League stadiums