Midway Stadium was the name of two different minor league baseball parks in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, United States, both now demolished. The name derived from the location of the stadium in St. Paul's Midway area, so named because it is roughly halfway between the downtowns of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and Saint Paul. The first Midway Stadium was the home of the St. Paul Saints of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

from 1957–1960. It was located at 1000 North Snelling Avenue, on the east side of that street. It was built with just a small uncovered and presumably expandable grandstand. It was intended to compete with

Metropolitan Stadium Metropolitan Stadium (often referred to as "the Met", "Met Stadium", or now "the Old Met" to distinguish from the Metrodome) was an outdoor sports stadium in the north central United States, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneap ...

for attracting a

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), ...

team, but the already-larger capacity of "The Met" doomed Midway Stadium. It was abandoned for professional baseball once the Twins arrived in 1961 and displaced both the Saints and the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

. It was used for by the

Minnesota Norsemen The Minnesota Norsemen were a professional softball team that played in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. The team had played as the Minnesota Goofy's in the 1977 season, changing names for 1978. ...

professional softball team of the American Professional Slow Pitch Softball League (APSPL) for their 1977-1979 seasons. It was also used as a

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

practice field for the next 20 years, and finally demolished in 1981 to make way for the Energy Park. That development, with all new streets and various buildings, rubbed out any trace of the ballpark's existence. midwayscoreboard

The second Midway Stadium was built in 1982 at roughly half the size of its namesake. It was located at 1771 Energy Park Drive. That's on the north side of that road, just west of Snelling, complemented by the Burlington Northern tracks to the north just beyond left field. Thus it was about a mile west of the first Midway Stadium site. The ballpark started out in life as Municipal Stadium. It was home of

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...

's baseball team. Despite its baseball configurations, some small private schools in St. Paul played football games at Midway in the fall. When Mike Veeck and

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

revived the Saints and also the independent Northern League in 1993, they set up shop there, at the soon-rechristened Midway Stadium. Midway Stadium was also used, occasionally, for rock concerts and other events. In April 2014 it was announced that pioneering alternative rock band The Replacements would hold a hometown reunion concert at the venue on September 13, 2014. The Saints' slogan is "Fun Is Good" and Mike Veeck has proudly declared that Midway Stadium is "The ugliest ballpark in America!" Mike's late father, Bill Veeck, Jr. is a well-known baseball owner and counts one of his accomplishments as planting the ivy at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. 2014 was the final season for both Hamline and the Saints at Midway Stadium. Both teams moved into the new ballpark

CHS Field CHS Field is a baseball park in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is home to the St. Paul Saints of the International League of Minor League Baseball, as well as home to Hamline University's baseball team. With the Saints' affiliation to the M ...

in time for the 2015 season. Midway Stadium was torn down in 2015. The 12-acre site will be used for an office or warehouse development, which is in line with the industrial area that surrounds the stadium.

Dimensions

Midway Stadium (I) *Seating capacity – 10,250 *Left Field – . *Left Center Field – . *Center Field – . *Right Center Field – . *Right Field – . Midway Stadium (II) *Seating capacity – 6,069 *Left Field – . *Center Field – . *Right Field – .

References

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External links

Midway Stadium page on St. Paul Parks & Recreation websiteVisit to Midway StadiumOfficial Saints Website
''Hamline University'' {{coord, 44, 58, 21, N, 93, 10, 26, W, display=title Baseball venues in Minnesota Sports venues demolished in 1981 Defunct baseball venues in the United States Minor league baseball venues Sports venues in Saint Paul, Minnesota 1981 disestablishments in Minnesota 1982 establishments in Minnesota 2015 disestablishments in Minnesota Sports venues completed in 1982 Sports venues demolished in 2015 Demolished sports venues in Minnesota