- Paterson Field
Paterson Field is a
baseball stadium inMontgomery, Alabama . The stadium has a maximum capacity of 7,000 people and was opened in1949 . Paterson Field has played host to, among other professional teams, theMontgomery Rebels , a AA-class minor-league team affiliated with theDetroit Tigers , and theMontgomery Wings , an independent minor-league team. The stadium is still in use today, having recently been used as the home field of Alabama State University, a division 1 program that competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).A Short History & Description
A majority of seating inside Paterson Field is metallic
bleacher s with a few rows of box seats. Roof coverings shelter the three sections of the park behind home plate. The concourse is entirely covered, and situated below the seating. The concourse also provides no views of the playing field. Its location is in the downtown Montgomery area on Madison Avenue, near its intersection with Hall Street and in close proximity toCramton Bowl . The stadium affords no view of downtown Montgomery to the large majority of fans in the seating inside the park.Soon after its construction, Paterson Field was the home of several Montgomery minor-league professional baseball teams. Chief among these was the 1965-80 incarnation of the Montgomery Rebels as a Detroit Tigers affiliate. During their 16 years in Montgomery, the Rebels won 5 Southern League championships as the Tigers developed the nucleus of a club that would win the 1984
World Series , and future MLB notables such asJack Morris ,Lou Whittaker , andAlan Trammell played under Paterson Field's lights before becoming big leaguers. The Rebels moved toBirmingham, Alabama , after the 1980 Southern League season, becoming theBirmingham Barons , while Paterson Field lay relatively dormant.Riding the wave of increased popularity in
minor league baseball of any level, the independent All-American Association opened play in June 2001 with teams in six cities. With the city's population count reaching 200,000, Montgomery was a logical choice for a franchise, and the city heartily welcomed the return of organized baseball to Alabama's capital city. In 2001, the Wings were part of theAll-American Association ; when the league folded, theSoutheastern League of Professional Baseball picked them up for the 2002 season. The Wings were brought back for a final season in 2003 before an affiliate team from the Southern League, theMontgomery Biscuits , took up residence in a newer waterfront park,Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium , which opened in2004 .Paterson Field was home to the
NCAA Division II Baseball Championship from1985 to2004 , after which the event was moved to Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium.References
* [http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/independent/montgomery.html/ Baseball Pilgrims]
* [http://www.ballparkreviews.com/montgom/montgom.htm/ Ballpark Reviews]External links
*geolinks-US-buildingscale|32.382127|-86.291353
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