Municipal Stadium is a

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 ...

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

, United States. The stadium was built in 1930 originally as a dog track which attributes to its unique, if not odd, layout. It holds 6,000 people.

History

The stadium was home to minor league baseball for the majority of its existence, beginning in 1947 with the Colonial League and from 1966 to 1986 with the AA Eastern League as an affiliate of the Dodgers, Reds, Giants, Indians, Pirates, A's, and Angels. The stadium has been home to a few historic events. Women's softball pitcher Joan Joyce struck out

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

Dom DiMaggio Dominic Paul DiMaggio (February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009), nicknamed "The Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio wa ...

, and

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a t ...

, in order, in the stadium, and in 1947 several members of the New York Yankees including

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of Manager (baseball), manager and Coach (baseball), coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball ...

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...

, and

Spec Shea Francis Joseph "Spec" Shea (October 2, 1920 – July 19, 2002) was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1947 to 1955. He played for the New York Yankees from 1947 to 1951 and the Washington Senators from 1952 to 1955. He was known as "The Naugat ...

, played an exhibition game against the Waterbury Timers in the stadium. From 1984 until 1991, the stadium hosted the AABC Mickey Mantle World Series for 15-16 year-old teams from the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Future Major League stars including Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., 14-time All-Star

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

Mike Lowell Michael Averett Lowell (born February 24, 1974) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 13-year career, Lowell played for the New York Yankees (1998), Florida Marlins (1999–2005), and the Boston Red Sox (2006&ndas ...

Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American retired Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, third ...

Chuck Knoblauch Edward Charles Knoblauch (; born July 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball player. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 through 2002, for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Kansas City Royals. He played ...

Brad Ausmus Bradley David Ausmus (; born April 14, 1969) is an American former professional baseball manager and catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). In his 18-year MLB playing career, Ausmus played for the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Houston Ast ...

Adam Hyzdu Adam Davis Hyzdu (; born December 6, 1971) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He batted and threw right-handed. In Major League Baseball, he pl ...

, and

Mark Newfield Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

all played in the tournament over the years. The stadium hosted NCAA Division I regional baseball games from 1988 to 1990 including an epic matchup between

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 1990 when Georgia went on to win the national championship. In modern times, the stadium has played host to the Waterbury franchise of the

New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...

between

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. In 1997, the stadium became home to the

Waterbury Spirit Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

which spent four seasons in the independent Northern League. In 2004 the Connecticut Hammers, a professional soccer franchise owned by Peter Carli, unsuccessfully attempted to convert the stadium to a soccer-only facility.

Current status

It is now primarily used for sporting events, primarily football and baseball, for most of the city's high schools and youth leagues. In 2017, the stadium also hosted the AABC Mickey Mantle World Series for 15-16 year old teams from across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. A multi-purpose turf field/stadium has been built alongside the baseball field. The stadium is designed more like a football arena, as opposed to a baseball field, but has two smaller baseball/softball fields at each end of the field. The original baseball field has a majority of the stadium's uncovered seating along the first base line. In February 2009, Stamford, Connecticut's ''The Advocate'' reported growing concerns among state lawmakers over the US economy, and the governing of state and local funds for maintaining and improving local stadiums such as Waterbury.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Waterbury, Connecticut Baseball venues in Connecticut Minor league baseball venues Sports venues in New Haven County, Connecticut 1930 establishments in Connecticut Sports venues completed in 1930