Richmond County Bank Ballpark

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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
Surface	Natural Grass
Construction cost	n/a
Architect	HOK Sport + Venue + Event
Tenants
Staten Island Yankees (2001-pres) New York Storm, (2004)
Capacity
6,800 (Seating Bowl) 7,171 (including Luxury Suites)
Dimensions
RF (318) CF (390) LF (320)

Richmond County Bank Ballpark is a stadium in Staten Island, New York. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Staten Island Yankees minor league baseball team, an affiliate of the New York Yankees. It opened in 2001 and holds 6,964 people.

Many local residents commonly refer to the park as Staten Island Yankee Stadium, instead of the much longer name of Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George.

The stadium is practically adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in the St. George section of Staten Island, and is reachable by the Staten Island Railway and buses. The ballpark was built on what had been the site of the B & O Railroad railyards by the City of New York.

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 in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, which is called KeySpan Park.

Due to the high public cost (over $80 million), the siting and the tepid public interest in another baseball stadium in a city that already supports two major league teams, the building of the Richmond County Bank Ballpark was not without its controversy. However, the two parks have the distinction of being the first new professional team sporting venues to be built in the city since the current Madison Square Garden in the 1960's.

In 2004, it served as the home of the New York Storm, the city's Pro Cricket team.

In 2005, Richmond County Bank Ballpark hosted two of the four concerts of the Across The Narrows Festival. The other two concerts took place simultaneously at Keyspan Park.

1 Special Features
2 Location Information
3 Photo Gallery
4 External links

[edit] Special Features

[edit] Professional Baseball Scout Wall of Fame

The Richmond County Bank Ballpark is home to the only Professional Baseball Scouts Wall of Fame. The special section in what is now called Pinstripe Alley serves as a tribute to the most underrated part of the sport. During a pre-game each year select members of the scouting community are inducted into this special area. They are immortalized in bronze plaques that hang on the wall.

Current Members of the Professional Baseball Scouts Wall of Fame

Class of 2005

Cesar Presbott

John Hagemann

Billy Blitzer

Gil Bassetti

Class of 2006

Ralph Dilullo

Roland Hemond

Herb Stein

[edit] Ballpark With A View

The Richmond County Bank Ballpark is home to one of the most breathtaking views in all of professional sports. Just over the outfield wall the entire skyline of New York City is present, along with the Statue of Liberty and ship traffic.

The Staten Island Ferry Terminal is directly next door to the ballpark which also provides great views of the Staten Island Ferry sometimes taking a detour to the area behind the park.

[edit] Retired Numbers

On the first base side of the Staten Island Yankees Press Box are the two currently retired Statne Island Yankees Numbers.

19 - Jason Anderson

41 - Chien Ming Wang

[edit] Yankees Wall of Fame

Another special feature of Pinstripe Alley is the New York Yankees Wall of Fame. This special are is dedicated to the retired numbers of Yankee Greats, including Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Yogi Berra.

[edit] Location Information

The Richmond County Bank Ballpark was placed on the site of the old St. George Amusement Company. On this site, Major League Baseball was once played in the form of the New York Mets (American Association) and the New York Giants (National League). That stadium was not used after the 1889 season.

Address

75 Richmond Terrace

Staten Island, NY, 10301

[edit] Photo Gallery

View over the outfield fence

[edit] External links

Pinckney Division		McNamara Division		Stedler Division
Current ballparks in the New York-Penn League
Bowman Field \| Dwyer Stadium \| Eastwood Field \| Falcon Park \| Medlar Field \| Russell Diethrick Park		Dutchess Stadium \| KeySpan Park \| Richmond County Bank Ballpark \| Ripken Stadium		Centennial Field \| Damaschke Field \| Edward A. LeLacheur Park \| Joseph L. Bruno Stadium