Fifth Third Field (Toledo)
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009) |
| Fifth Third Field | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 |
|
| Location | 406 Washington Street Toledo, OH 43604 |
| Broke ground | October 20, 2000[1] |
| Opened | April 9, 2002[2] |
| Owner | Lucas County |
| Operator | Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc. |
| Surface | Natural Grass |
| Construction cost | $39,200,000 ($50.7 million in 2012 dollars[3]) |
| Architect | HNTB Finkbeiner, Pettis & Strout Inc. |
| Project Manager | Turner Construction[4] |
| General Contractor | Lathrop Construction[2] |
| Capacity | 10,300 people |
| Field dimensions | Left Field - 320 ft Center Field - 400 ft Right Field - 320 ft |
| Tenants | |
| Toledo Mud Hens (International League) (2002 — Present) |
|
Fifth Third Field is the name of a minor league baseball stadium in Toledo, Ohio. The Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank purchased the naming rights to the stadium. It is not to be confused with another stadium in Ohio with the same name, Fifth Third Field in Dayton. Fifth Third Bank also owns the naming rights to another stadium in Comstock Park, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, and a basketball arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.
The facility is home to the Toledo Mud Hens, an International League team and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. It seats 10,300 and opened in 2002. Fifth Third Field hosted the 2006 Triple-A All-Star Game and home run derby. The stadium was named one of the best minor league ballparks in America by Newsweek.[5] In the summer of 2007, ESPN.com rated The Roost section of Fifth Third Field as the best seats to watch a game in minor league baseball.[6]
Contents |
[edit] Location
It is located in downtown Toledo, two blocks from the Maumee River. The new stadium replaced Ned Skeldon Stadium, located in suburban Maumee, as the Mud Hens home — the older facility being best described as "quaint" or "rustic". The park was intended to boost development downtown, and indeed a small commercial area has sprung up around the park, centered on St. Clair Street, on the park's southeast side.
The street address is 406 Washington Street. The park is bounded by Washington Street (southwest, first base); North Huron Street (northwest, third base); Monroe Street/Henry Morse Way (northeast, left field); and Msgr. Jerome Schmidt Way/North St. Clair Street (southeast, right field).
The Fifth-Third Field is part of a complex that includes SeaGate Convention Centre and the Huntington Center (formerly known as the Lucas County Arena). The Lucas County Commissioners teamed with HNTB Architecture Inc., a national sports architecture firm located in Kansas City; and local architects and landscape architects The Collaborative Inc, of Toledo; to design the Mud Hens Stadium. The Commissioners used this same design team on the Huntington Center, located 1 block away from the Stadium.
[edit] Scoreboards
In 2009, the Mud Hens installed brand new Daktronics ribbon scoreboards along the first base and third base sides of the ballpark. They are in full color and can display a variety of graphics, stats, and the game score. Also, the Hens replaced their Fair Play Scoreboards scoreboard and Barco video board with a huge Daktronics video board display in left field which is in full color and is a complete matrix board that shows the line score of the game. It is also zoned on the top 70% where it shows the current batter, animations, games, replays, and more.
The new Daktronics video board also replaced the Fair Play message board below the old Fair Play scoreboard.
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ "Farr to Join Taft at Hens' Groundbreaking Ritual". Toledo Blade. October 20, 2000. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uT0xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6010,1244807&dq=en.
- ^ a b Graham Knight (October 21, 2009). "Coca Cola Field". Triple-A. Baseball Pilgrimages. http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/AAA/toledo.html.
- ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ^ http://www.turnerconstruction.com/sports/content.asp?d=5925&p=5878
- ^ Mark Starr. Newsweek: "Cheat Sheet | Minor-League Baseball". Aug 5, 2002.
- ^ Josh Pahigian. ESPN: "The Best of the Minor Leagues". May 10, 2008.
- Resources
[edit] External links
- View an INTERACTIVE Virtual Tour of Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mud Hens!
- Fifth Third Field Views - Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues
- ESPN.com's Ten Best Seats in the Minor Leagues
- Fifth Third Field - BallparkReviews.com
Coordinates: 41°38′53.93″N 83°32′20.35″W / 41.6483139°N 83.5389861°W
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
