The Estadio Francisco ("Paquito") Montaner (English: ''Francisco ("Paquito") Montaner Stadium'') is a multi-use

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in Ponce,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. It is home to the Leones de Ponce team of the

Puerto Rico Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

(LBPPR) and FC Leones of the

Puerto Rico Soccer League The Puerto Rico Soccer League or PRSL is an association football league in Puerto Rico founded in 2008 and the first unified football league in the island's history. Association football had been growing in popularity in recent years, and this wa ...

(PRSL). The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 seats.''Francisco Montaner Stadium – Tribute to a Sporting Legend.''
Puerto Rico.com: Puerto Rico Channel. Accessed 6 February 2018
''Archived''
by the WayBack Machine on 2018-February-07.
Noticel. ("La Calle" section) 15 October 2011. Accessed 31 July 2017

by the WayBack Machine on 2017-August-01.Sporting Connections.
Retrieved 19 December 2009. Construction of the stadium began in 1947 and it opened on 15 October 1949.''Cumple 60 años el "Paquito" Montaner''.
Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Vol. 27, No. 1353. 4 November 2009. Page 59. (''In Spanish'') Retrieved 7 November 2011. Weblink updated 29 March 2018. Montaner has the distinction of being the first stadium in Puerto Rico that installed an artificial surface field. The stadium lies next to the

Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, where the Ponce Lions (basketball) hold their games. The Stadium was named to honor Francisco "Paquito" Montaner, one of the greatest Puerto Rican pitchers of all times.

History

While baseball had been practiced in the city prior to this, baseball in Ponce started in earnest upon the arrival of the

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

to the island after the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

of 1898. The first non-professional baseball leagues played at Campo Atlético Charles H. Terry. However, after the formation of the ''Liga de Béisbol Semiprofesional de Puerto Rico'' (Puerto Rico Semiprofessional Baseball League) in 1938, the sport had mature enough that it became necessary to plan on building a new stadium. This need was further exacerbated on 14 September 1941 when the League became a professional-level league. Construction of the stadium began in 1947 and it opened two years later on October 15, 1949. In addition to baseball, the stadium had other uses. In particular, it was also used for basketball games. These were played on a convertible basketball court that was stowed away when the basket games were over.

Uses

The PRPBL's regular playing season runs from November through January. From February to August, the venue is transformed into a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

stadium, and also serves as a venue for other activities such as a host of the Mustang Auto Daredevils. It has also been used for

intramural Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...

competitions and other academic sporting events. The track is completely covered during baseball season and then it is elevated via a hydraulic system for the track and field events. The stadium is also used for winter training by many United States Major Baseball League players. In its early days, in particular, the stadium was used as the winter training stadium by the

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) Amer ...

. In 1947, the game at the opening day of training was won 12 to 8 by the Leones de Ponce v. New York Yankees. News of the event first broke at the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', followed by ''

The New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' .

Major events

Championships

Montaner has seen a total of 12 championships: four in BSN basketball (1952, 1961, 1964 y 1965), one in Double A (AA) baseball in 1957, six in Professional Baseball (68-69, 69-70, 71-72, 81-82, 03-04 and 08-09), and one in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in 2007.

Athletics

Montaner has also seen some great events in athletics. The ''Primeros Juegos Ponceños'', the Frankie Colón Memorial, the ''Justas Intercolegiales'' (intercollegiate games), the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

("Ponce 93"), and the Iberoamerican Games, all took place here. There have also been athletics competitions at the Masters category and, more recently, the famed

Ponce Grand Prix The Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo is a track and field competition held yearly in Ponce, Puerto Rico at the Francisco Montaner Stadium. The event started in 2007, after the successful hosting of the 2006 Ibero-American Championships.Robinson, ...

Other events

For many years Montaner was the venue of the finals of the ''Guantes Dorados de Boxeo Aficionado'' (

Amateur Boxing Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

's Golden Gloves), national as well as U.S.-based

Professional Wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s, bull runs, concerts by internationally renowned artists, as well as the site of various major religious conventions. In February 1958, evangelist

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

hosted a religious event at this stadium.Luis Fortuno Janeiro. "Album Historico de Ponce (1692–1963)." 1963. Page 197. Imprenta Fortuno. Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Prominent Sportsmen at Montaner

Baseball

Through Montaner, Ponce has been able to see prominent figures in the world of sports such as Francisco 'Pancho' Coímbre, Felo Guilbe, Tomás 'Planchardón' Quiñones, Luis Rodríguez Olmo, 'Canena' Márquez, Carlos Bernier, José Guillermo 'Pantalones' Santiago, Luis 'Tite' Arroyo, Víctor Pellot,

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

, Orlando 'Peruchín' Cepeda,

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

Frank Robinson Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from to . The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of bot ...

, José Rafael 'Palillo' Santiago,

Steve Carlton Steven Norman Carlton (born December 22, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher for six different teams from 1965 to 1988, most notably as a member of the Philadelphi ...

, John Boozer, Otoniel Vélez Franceschi,

Roberto Alomar Roberto "Robbie" Alomar Velázquez (; ; born February 5, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Arizon ...

Sandy Alomar Sr. Santos "Sandy" Alomar Conde Sr. (; ; born October 19, 1943) is a Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for fourteen seasons. Alomar was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He is the father of former Ma ...

, José 'Cheo' Cruz,

Rickey Henderson Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson (born December 25, 1958) is an American retired professional baseball left fielder who played his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four separate tenures with hi ...

, José 'Pepe' Mangual, Luis 'Mambo' De León,

Joey Cora José Manuel Cora Amaro (born May 14, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball player with an 11-year career in MLB spanning the years 1987 and 1989–1998 and current third base coach for the New York Mets. He played for the San Diego Padres of t ...

, Juan 'Igor' González,

José Vidro José Angel Vidro (born August 27, 1974) is a Puerto Rican born former Major League Baseball second baseman. He played for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals and Seattle Mariners. Professional career Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals V ...

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida ...

, José Molina, Raúl Casanova, Javier López, and Javier Vázquez. Various "No Hit No Run" were played in this stadium, in particular the ones by 'Pantalones' Santiago,

Hank Behrman Henry Bernard Behrman (June 27, 1921 – January 20, 1987) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched from 1946 to 1949 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants. He appeared in 5 games for the Dodgers during the ...

, José Luis 'Witito' Martínez, and the rare "no hitter", by

Giancarlo Alvarado Giancarlo Carlos (Martinez) Alvarado (born January 24, 1978) is a professional baseball pitcher. He was raised in Camuy, Puerto Rico. He has played in the Chinese Professional Baseball League and Nippon Professional Baseball as well as in intern ...

against the fearful

Indios de Mayagüez The Indios de Mayagüez (Mayagüez Indians) are a baseball team in Puerto Rico's Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, in Spanish). Based in Mayagüez, the ''Indios'' have won 18 national ...

Basketball

When basketball games were also played here (since 1972 they have been played at the

). Fans still remember the very first championship of the

Leones de Ponce (baseball) Leones may refer to: * Colegio Los Leones de Quilpué, basketball team from Chile * Sierra Leonean Leone, currency of Sierra Leone * Leones (football team), from El Salvador * , a city in Marcos Juárez Department, Córdoba Province, Argentina * Le ...

in 1952, and the electrifying plays by Tomás 'Guabina' Gutiérrez, Antonio 'Toño' Morales, "El Barco" Salvador Dijols, Ángel 'Conejo' García, César Bocachica, and

Joe Hatton Joe Hatton Gotay (May 17, 1948 in Ponce, Puerto Rico – July 1, 2022) was a Puerto Rican basketball player who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics and in the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games o ...

, and the maneuvers by the best Puerto Rican basketball player of all times Juan 'Pachín' Vicens, in particular, the night when he became the first player to reach the 5,000 points in Puerto Rican basketball.

Other players

Montaner also witnessed the speed of

Juan "Papo" Franceschi Juan "Papo" Franceschi (12 January 1947 – 20 October 1990), was a Puerto Rican track and field athlete from Ponce, Puerto Rico. Biography Juan "Papo" Franceschi was born in Barrio San Anton, Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 12 January 1947. Franceschi ...

, and the techniques of Arnaldo Bristol, Cuban

Javier Sotomayor Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...

, Reinaldo 'Pochy' Oliver, Edgardo Guilbe, Emilio Navarro Jr., Félix Martínez, and Javier Culson.

References

Notes

{{Coord, 18.002422, -66.631785, type:landmark, display=title Baseball venues in Puerto Rico Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Football venues in Puerto Rico Club Atlético River Plate Puerto Rico Sports venues completed in 1949 1949 establishments in Puerto Rico Sports venues in Ponce, Puerto Rico Basketball venues in Puerto Rico