Prince George's Stadium is a multipurpose sports venue located in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Prince George's County, Maryland
)
, demonym = Prince Georgian
, ZIP codes = 20607–20774
, area codes = 240, 301
, founded date = April 23
, founded year = 1696
, named for = Prince George of Denmark
, leader_title = Executive
, leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...
, near
Bowie,
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 ...
. It is home of the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
'
Double-A affiliated
Bowie Baysox
The Bowie Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium.
History
From 1989 to 1992, ...
in the
Eastern League. The stadium is the result of a cooperative venture between Maryland Baseball Limited Partnership and the
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a bi-county agency that administers parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland.
History
The commission was formed in 1927 by the Maryland G ...
, and is built on park property.
History
The stadium opened June 16, 1994. Its capacity for baseball is listed at 10,000, but when the Double-A All-Star Game was held there in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
, the attendance was about 14,000. The 2002
Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game
Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game is the all-star game of the MLL.
Years 2000s 2001
The inaugural 2001 All-Star Game, was titled the Major League Lacrosse LacrosseStar Game. From 2001–2003, the All-Star Game had the National Division playing ...
was held at the stadium.
While the stadium was being finished, the Baysox played one full season (1993) at Baltimore's
Memorial Stadium and a few series in 1994 at fields belonging to the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
in
Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
, and the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
, as well as the minor league stadiums of the
Frederick Keys
The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masco ...
and
Wilmington Blue Rocks
The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.
...
.
Tenants and events
Prince George's Stadium is located near the intersection of
U.S. Route 301 and
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
. It has been host to the AA All-Star Game twice, the
United States Congressional Baseball Game
The Congressional Baseball Game for Charity is an annual baseball game played each summer by members of the United States Congress. The game began as a casual event among colleagues in 1909 and eventually evolved into one of Washington, D.C.'s m ...
, the annual
Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iver ...
charity softball game, a lacrosse tournament, the USA Softball team, yard sales, movie nights, concerts, and Halloween activities in addition to its primary function as a baseball park. In addition, the Baysox operate a
drive-in theater
A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of movie theater, cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers ...
in the stadium's left-field parking lot during the Baysox' road trips.
Due to its close proximity to several local military bases including
Fort George G. Meade
Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States military bands#Army Field Band, United States Army Field Band, and the head ...
and
Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...
, the stadium is also regularly the site of related promotions involving enlisted persons. For example, on June 14, 2007, 5,000 Baysox tickets were distributed to soldiers to celebrate Flag Day with professional wrestler
Sergeant Slaughter.
In 1998, the stadium hosted the Bowie Nationals, a team in the single-season
Maryland Fall Baseball league.
On July 12, 2000, the ballpark hosted the
Double-A All-Star Game
The Double-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1991 to 2002 between professional players from the affiliated Double-A leagues of Minor League Baseball—the Eastern League (EL), Southern League (SL), and Texas League (TL). Te ...
in which a team of
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
-affiliated All-Stars defeated a team of
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
-affiliated All-Stars, 5–2, before 14,077 people in attendance.
In 2004, it served as the home of the
D.C. Forward, the
Pro Cricket
The history of United States cricket begins in the 18th century. Among early Americans, cricket was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball. Though Americans never played cricket in great numbers, the game grew for some time. Around the time ...
team for Washington, D.C.
The ballpark was used for the
2020 Major League Baseball season
The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The full 162-game regular season was planned to begin on March 26, but the pandemic caused Major League Baseball (ML ...
as the alternate training site for members of the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
60-man player pool who were not assigned to the major league roster.
Appearances
Prince George's Stadium was featured in the January 30, 2007 episode ("Well Digger") of the Discovery Channel series ''
Dirty Jobs
''Dirty Jobs'' is an American television series that originally aired on the Discovery Channel in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the job's current employees. The sh ...
'', where host
Mike Rowe
Michael Gregory Rowe (born March 18, 1962) is an American television host and narrator. He is known for his work on the Discovery Channel series ''Dirty Jobs'' and the series ''Somebody's Gotta Do It'' originally developed for CNN. He hosted a s ...
performed a variety of jobs.
References
External links
Prince George's County Department of Parks and RecreationBowie Baysox
{{Prince George's County, Maryland topics
Buildings and structures in Prince George's County, Maryland
Baseball venues in Maryland
Cricket grounds in the United States
1994 establishments in Maryland
Sports venues completed in 1994
Cricket in Maryland
Sports venues in the Washington metropolitan area
Eastern League (1938–present) ballparks