Dickey–Stephens Park 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 ...

North Little Rock, Arkansas North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas River, Arkansas from Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 2 ...

, United States. The ballpark is primarily used for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and serves as the home for the

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, also known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners as members of the Texas League. History The team succeeded ...

of the Texas League. The capacity of the ballpark is 7,300 which includes 5,800 fixed seats capacity and 1,500 on the berms. It opened in 2007 as a replacement for

Ray Winder Field Ray Winder Field was a baseball park in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ballpark sat with home plate in roughly the north-northwest corner of the property. The former boundaries of the park were Interstate 630 (south, right field); Jonesboro Drive (west ...

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. The ballpark is named after four local Arkansas brothers:

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 private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Bill Dickey William Malcolm Dickey (June 6, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in ...

, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

George Dickey, and businessmen

Jackson T. Stephens Jackson Thomas Stephens (August 9, 1923 – July 23, 2005) was an oilman and investment banker. He was the CEO of Little Rock, Arkansas-based Stephens Inc., a privately owned financial services company. Background Stephens was born on a farm ...

and W. R. Stephens.

History

The majority of the ballpark's cost—about 83%—was paid for by the public. On August 9, 2005, 54.3% of voters of North Little Rock approved a temporary 1% sales tax increase that funded $28 million of the cost from the two years the tax was collected. Another $5.6 million was to be raised from ballpark revenue. On the private side of the ledger, Warren Stephens made a financial contribution of $440,494 and a land donation valued at $6.3 million. Also, the North Little Rock City Beautiful Commission donated $15,000. The ballpark was designed by

HKS, Inc. HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas (USA). History The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith. In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mex ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

while the general contractor was a joint venture of

Hensel Phelps Construction Hensel Phelps Construction Co. is one of the largest general contractors and construction managers in the United States, ranked consistently among ENR's (Engineering News-Record) top 20 Contractors by revenue. Founded in 1937 as a small, local b ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

and East-Harding Construction of

. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 30, 2005 with the actual construction beginning on January 26, 2006. The construction was completed on March 27, 2007, spanning over a period of 426 days. The ballpark opened on April 12, 2007, where the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

beat the Travelers 6–5 with 7,943 fans in attendance. The ballpark was also the location where

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

batting coach

Mike Coolbaugh Michael Robert Coolbaugh (June 5, 1972 – July 22, 2007) was an American baseball player and coach. Born in Binghamton, New York, he was the brother of major leaguer Scott Coolbaugh. Coolbaugh died after being hit by a line drive while worki ...

was killed during a game against the Travelers. During the July 22, 2007 game, Coolbaugh was struck in the neck by a hard struck

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

as he was standing in the first base coaches box, and died an hour later from the impact of the injury that resulted in a severe brain hemorrhage. The result of Coolbaugh's death led to the decision by

(MLB) general managers to require base coaches to wear helmets on the field during games, starting with the 2008 MLB season.

Gallery

File:Dickey-Stephens Stadium.jpg, File:Dickey stephens field and grandstand.JPG, File:Dickey Stephens Park.jpg,

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey-Stephens Park 2007 establishments in Arkansas Baseball venues in Arkansas Sports in Little Rock, Arkansas Buildings and structures in North Little Rock, Arkansas Tourist attractions in North Little Rock, Arkansas Sports venues completed in 2007 Texas League ballparks