Richmond County Bank Ballpark

Infobox_Baseball_Stadium
stadium_name = Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George


location = Staten Island, New York
broke_ground = 1999
opened = 2001
closed = n/a
demolished = n/a
owner = New York City
operator = Staten Island Yankees
construction_cost = n/a
architect = HOK Sport
surface = Natural Grass
tenants = Staten Island Yankees, (2001-pres)Wagner College Baseball, (2008-pres)

New York Storm, (2004)
seating_capacity = 7,171
dimensions = RF (318)CF (390)LF (320)
The Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George (RCB Ballpark) is a baseball stadium located on the north-eastern tip of Staten Island. The ballpark is the home of the Staten Island Yankees, the NY-Penn League affiliate of the New York Yankees, and of Wagner College Seahawks Baseball. The ballpark was also home of the city’s Pro Cricket team the New York Storm. In addition, local High Schools have the chance to play at least one game at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

RCB Ballpark opened in 2001 and was designed by HOK Sport Venue Event. The design of the ballpark features sails at the entrances due to its location next to the world-famous Staten Island Ferry. All major local buses and the Staten Island Railway end at the St. George Ferry Terminal, which is less then a five-minute walk from the ballpark. The Ballpark at St. George is more commonly referred to as Staten Island Yankees Stadium instead of its much longer name.

The site on which the ballpark was built was once the site of the B&O Railroad rail yards for the City of New York, and the current stadium parking lot was the site of Major League Baseball in the 1880s. The New York Metropolitians of the American Association played at the St. George Baseball Grounds in 1886-1887 and the New York Giants played there while awaiting the construction of the second Polo Grounds.

Richmond County Bank Ballpark was part of a deal with both the Yankees and New York Mets, brokered by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Due to Major League Baseball territory rules, the Yankees and Mets have veto power over each other (and any other Major League Baseball franchise), if they want to bring an affiliated minor-league team in to the New York City metropolitan area. The Yankees and Mets had attempted to move minor-league teams to the area in the past, only to be turned down with their rival. With help (and public money) from the mayor, both teams agreed to allow each other to have a minor-league team in the city in return for new stadiums. The Mets moved a franchise to a new stadium, called KeySpan Park, in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn.

In 2005, RCB Ballpark hosted two of the four concerts of the Across the Narrows Festival. The other two concerts took place simultaneously at KeySpan Park.

Design

The Richmond County Bank Ballpark was designed to take advantage of the stadium’s location overlooking New York Harbor. The main entrance to the stadium is located on street level with the seating bowl and field built below street level. Sails at each entrance are a reference to boats which are always passing beyond the outfield wall. The batter’s eye in centerfield is able to retract so that spectators can view the skyline of New York City.

A replica of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is located on top of the main scoreboard.

The outfield walls have changed several times over the course of the stadium’s history. Originally the stadium had four LED video boards spaced out on the outfield wall that would display rotating advertisements throughout the game. After these boards malfunctioned the team replaced them with traditional signage along the wall. These signs were replaced with a new 200 foot long video board in right field in 2007. The new video board is one of the longest in the minors. Also in 2007 the Ballpark received a brand new high-definition main video board on top of the scoreboard.

Miscellaneous

RCB Ballpark has 18 regular-sized luxury suites along with a 60-person Skyline Suite with one of the best views of the harbor.

Currently RCB Ballpark is home of the very first Professional Baseball Scouts Wall of Fame along the right field concourse. Members of the Scout Wall of Fame include Cesar Presbott, John Hagemann, Billy Blitzer, Gil Bassetti, Ralph Dilullo, Roland Hemond, and Herb Stein.

A small kids’ area is located down the left-field line with games.

Photo Gallery

External links

* [http://www.littleballparks.com/Stadium/2001/Staten_Island/StatenIsland.htm Richmond County Bank Ballpark Views - "Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues"]
* [http://www.baby-bombers.com/Ballpark/index.htm Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George at Baby-Bombers.com]