Joannes Stadium
Encyclopedia
Joannes Stadium is a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...

 located in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

. It is a part of the Joannes Park complex, which also includes the Joannes Aquatic Center. It is the home of the Green Bay Bullfrogs
Green Bay Bullfrogs
The Green Bay Bullfrogs is a baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. Their home games are played at Joannes Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin...

, a Northwoods League
Northwoods League
The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of the top college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate...

 team that began play in 2007. The stadium has hosted a number of now defunct minor league baseball teams, including the Green Bay Sultans and the Green Bay Blue Jays. Its current capacity is approximately 2,000, with about 1600 in the seating bowl and about 400 in the new Leinies Northwoods Fan Deck.

History

Joannes Stadium was built in 1929. Not much is known about its early history. In 1935 the stadium hosted an exhibition game between the St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 and Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

. Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...

 played first base, Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....

 was the coach of the Pirates. Over 3,500 people attended the game. Throughout the 1950s Joannes was home to the Green Bay Blue Jays, a Class D Minor League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 and Brooklyn Dodgers. When Dodgers move to Los Angeles in 1958, the team is moved.
From about 1970 to 2006 Joannes was home to a number of local teams, including the Green Bay Blue Ribbons, Green Bay Sultans and the Green Bay Billys.

Renovation

On September 19, 2006 the Green Bay City Council approved the lease of Joannes Stadium to the Northwoods League and the Titletown Baseball Group, which was awarded a franchise to begin play in the 2007 season. This allowed the Titletown Baseball group to begin renovations on Joannes Stadium on September 20, 2006. Those renovations continued through the Spring of 2007. Some of the major renovations that were undertaken include,
  • Leveling of the playing field.
  • Installation of 30 feet (9.1 m) high professional foul poles.
  • Installation of flag poles beyond the center field fence.
  • Painting of a batter's eye.
  • Addition of seat backs to some seats, creating the reserved seating sections.
  • Addition of a sound system.
  • Construction of a new press box (Media Center)
  • Construction of the new 4084 square feet (379.4 m²) Fan Deck in the right field corner. (The Leinies Northwoods Fan Deck)


In a press conference on April 2, 2008, the Green Bay Bullfrogs
Green Bay Bullfrogs
The Green Bay Bullfrogs is a baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. Their home games are played at Joannes Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin...

 announced renovation plans for the 2008 season. The first phase, done in partnership with Nicolet Bank of Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

, included a professional style scoreboard in right center field that is 28 feet (8.5 m) high at its peak and measures 28 feet (8.5 m) wide. It also features a large 20’L x 3’4”H graphics/messaging display and a back lit custom designed truss displays the team name and logo. The second phase of this project involves the installation of a Speed Pitch Radar Display in left center field to visually complement the new scoreboard and allow fans to keep track of how fast a pitcher is throwing the ball. The Bullfrogs also have stated that there are preliminary plans in place for the expansion of some perimeter fencing along the west side of Joannes Stadium to accommodate an expansion of the Kids Zone, an additional concession area, and the possible addition of bleacher seating for the upcoming season.

Plans for the future

Bullfrogs Owner Jeff Royle has stated that he has created a master plan for Joannes Stadium in the next few years that includes continuing to update and modernize the seating bowl behind home plate and having fan decks in both outfield corners. Royle said that he envisions Joannes as a 2,500-3,500 seat ball park. The Bullfrogs are also looking into locations for a new stadium, as Joannes can only expand so much and it would take major renovations to allow it to expand to the 2,500-3,500 capacity that Royle envisions.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK