St. Paul Saints Home, Midway Stadium, Voted Top 100 Most Important Sports Venues
Published on September 23, 2008 under American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release
ST. PAUL, MN (September 23, 2008) - To watch a game at Midway Stadium is to experience minor league baseball nirvana. Saints fans have experienced haircuts, massages by a nun, a pig delivering a baseball to the umpire, roller coaster rides, Darryl Strawberry, J.D. Drew, (delete hanging from a billboard) mimes, unusual promotions and crazy giveaways. That's just a small sampling of why Midway Stadium was recently ranked #92 on ESPN.com Page 2's in their list of 100 most important sports venues.
The September 19 article by Jim Caple ranked the venues that "have a profound influence on the way American sports are played or have enjoyed multiple historic moments, or better yet, both."
The Saints were sandwiched between Seattle's Key Arena (#91) and Coney Island (#93). Caple explains his choice of Midway Stadium as "the home of the St. Paul Saints, the team that brought independent baseball back to the minors (and provided everyone with from Darryl Strawberry to J.D. Drew with employment)."
Midway Stadium is the only active minor league stadium on the list. The original Durham Athletic Park is listed at #35, but is not in use anymore. Vero Beach's Dodgertown is #53, best known as the Spring Training home of the Brooklyn and, later, Los Angeles Dodgers.
Midway Stadium was built in 1982 and the Saints have used the ballpark since their inception in 1993. The ballpark has been host to two All-Star Games, 11 seasons of playoffs, four championship series and countless memorable moments.
To read the entire article, follow the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/080919/venues.
American Association Stories from September 23, 2008
- Pels GM Takes the Field as New Manager - Pensacola Pelicans
- St. Paul Saints Home, Midway Stadium, Voted Top 100 Most Important Sports Venues - St. Paul Saints
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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