Dickey–Stephens Park
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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 two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...
in
North Little Rock, Arkansas North Little Rock (often abbreviated "NLR") is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States. Located on the north side of the Arkansas River, it is the Twin cities, twin city of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock. In the late nineteenth ce ...
, United States. The ballpark is primarily used for
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
and serves as the home for the
Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and play in the Texas League. Hi ...
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 (wes ...
in
Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
. 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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
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 17 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager i ...
, former
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
George Dickey, and businessmen
Jackson T. Stephens Jackson Thomas Stephens Sr (August 9, 1923 – July 23, 2005) was an American oilman and investment banker. He was the CEO of Little Rock, Arkansas-based Stephens Inc., a privately owned financial services company. Background Stephens was bo ...
and W. R. Stephens.


History

The majority of the ballpark's cost—about 83%—was paid 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 (US). History The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith. In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mexi ...
of
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
while the general contractor was a joint venture of
Hensel Phelps Construction Hensel Phelps Construction Co., located in Greeley, Colorado, 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. The c ...
of
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
and East-Harding Construction of
Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
. 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. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...
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 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
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(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 Minor league baseball venues Sports venues 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