Sahlen Field

Sahlen Field
"The House That Jimmy Built"
The then Coca-Cola Field in June 2018
Earlier names
Pilot Field (1988–1995) Downtown Ballpark (1995) North AmeriCare Park (1995–1998) Dunn Tire Park (1999–2008) Coca-Cola Field (2009–2018)
Data
place	Griffin Plaza, 1 James Drive Buffalo , New York 14203
Coordinates	42 ° 52 '50.2 "  N , 78 ° 52' 25.9"  W Coordinates: 42 ° 52 '50.2 "  N , 78 ° 52' 25.9"  W.
owner	City of Buffalo
operator	Bison Baseball Inc.
start of building	July 10, 1986
opening	April 14, 1988
First game	April 14, 1988 Buffalo Bisons 1-0 Denver Zephyrs
surface	Natural grass ( Kentucky Bluegrass )
costs	42 million US dollars (Stadium) 56 million US dollars (total project)
architect	HOK Sport (now: Populous )
capacity	16,600 places (since 2019) 16,907 places (2017–2018) 17,600 places (2015–2016) 18,025 places (2005–2014) 21,050 places (1990–2004) 19,500 places (1988–1989)
playing area	Left Field - 325 ft (99 m) Left Center Field - 371 ft (113 m) Center Field - 404 ft (123 m) Right Center Field - 367 ft (112 m) Right Field - 325 ft (99 m)
Societies)
Buffalo bison ( IL , since 1988) Buffalo Nighthawks ( LPBL , 1998) Empire State Yankees ( IL , 2012) Toronto Blue Jays ( MLB , 2020)
Events
1. Triple-A All-Star Game (1988) National Buffalo Wing Festival (since 2002) 25th Triple-A All-Star Game (2012)

The Sahlen Field is a baseball - Stadium in the American US city of Buffalo in the state of New York . It is the home ground of the Buffalo Bison from the International League (IL).

history

St. John's Episcopal Church was built on the site of the stadium from 1846 to 1848 . The church was demolished in 1906 and a hotel of the later Statler Hotels chain was built. It was closed in 1967 and canceled the following year. After the demolition, the ready-to-build site lay fallow. 1979 bought "Jimmy" Griffin , mayor of the city, along with a group of investors for 55,000 US dollars , the Double-A baseball team of Jersey City A's from Jersey City to the Buffalo Bisons revive. Shortly before bankruptcy, the team was handed over to the Montreal Expos in Canada in June 1970 and relocated to Winnipeg , Manitoba . From 1979 the bisons started playing at War Memorial Stadium . In 1983, Bob Rich Jr. bought the team to keep professional baseball in town. The following year he bought the Wichita Eros triple-A franchise rights from Wichita and relocated it to Buffalo.

On July 10, 1986, the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony took place on the building plot on the corner of Washington Street and Swan Street next to the One Seneca Tower in downtown Buffalo. The architecture office HOK Sport (today: Populous ) provided the design for the future home of the bison . The system was designed in such a way that it could be expanded to 45,000 seats. 1991 Buffalo was one of six cities, which is an expansion team of the MLB competed. As in 1995, Buffalo received nothing. The stadium cost $ 42 million and the entire project was $ 56 million. The state contributed $ 22 million to the stadium construction. The remainder was contributed by various sources such as the city, Erie County, and the Buffalo bison themselves.

The opening was celebrated on April 14, 1988. "Jimmy" Griffin and Governor Mario Cuomo carried out the first throws. The stadium was sold out with 19,250 spectators. Shortly after the inauguration, the 1st Triple-A All-Star Game took place on July 13, 1988 in the new building. The game was televised nationwide. In front of 19,500 spectators, the team of representatives of the American League won 2-1 against the selection of the National League. The Buffalo Bisons were the second team to exceed the audience of one million visitors in one season. The team ended the 1988 season on September 1 with a 2-1 win over Nashville. After 22 sold out home games in a row, the home games ended with a record number of 1,186,651 visitors. Originally the ball park offered 19,250 seats. In 2011, after the closure of Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium (24,000) in Omaha and PGE Park in Portland (19,810), it was the largest stadium in minor league baseball. From 1990 to 2004 the venue offered 21,050 seats in the stands. Since then, the available space has decreased to the current figure of 16,600.

Since 2002 , the National Buffalo Wing Festival has been held in the sports facility every year at the beginning of September, on a Labor Day weekend , in honor of the Buffalo Chicken Wings . The 2020 event had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . From 2003 to 2007, seven wrestling events were held in what was then Dunn Tire Park under the name Ballpark Brawl . The 25th Triple-A All-Star Game was played on July 11, 2012 in the Bisons Stadium. The Pacific Coast League won the game in front of 18,025 visitors against the International League 3-0.

At the end of June 2020, the Buffalo bison canceled the entire season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 24 of the year gave Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that the franchise from Canada their home games in the season 2020 will deliver Field in Sahlen. The Buffalo Bisons are a farm team of the Blue Jays . Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not given permission to play their home games at the Rogers Center . It will be the first time since 1915 that a major league game will take place in the city. The Buffalo Blues competed in the short-lived Federal League from 1914 to 1915. The first game of the Blue Jays is scheduled for August 11, 2020 against the Miami Marlins .

Surname

The bison stadium was opened in 1988 under the name Pilot Field , after the Pilot Air Freight Corp. On March 2, 1995, the city canceled the 20-year contract and the company defaulted on paying $ 51,000 a year. In the time without sponsors, the venue was called Downtown Ballpark . As of July 3 of that year, it was named after the HMO North AmeriCare and was called North AmeriCare Park . The agreement was terminated on May 5, 1999 and the following day the tire dealer Dunn Tire was named after the company. The Dunn Tire Park stayed until 2008. After the contract expired, the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Buffalo acquired the sponsorship rights with a ten-year contract. As of January 1, 2009, it was called Coca-Cola Field . At the beginning of 2019 the ball park was given the sponsorship name Sahlen Field . The contract with Sahlen Packing Company Inc. , a company in the meat industry , has a term of 10 years.

• Pilot Field: April 14, 1988 - March 2, 1995
• Downtown Ballpark : March 3, 1995 - July 2, 1995
• North AmeriCare Park: July 3, 1995 - May 5, 1999
• Dunn Tire Park: May 6, 1999 - December 31, 2008
• Coca-Cola Field: January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2018
• Sahlen Field: since January 1, 2019

Transport links

The Seneca Station of the Buffalo Metro Rail , which belongs to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), is located near Sahlen Field .

gallery

• 

  Satellite image of the stadium

• 

  AJ Styles at Ballpark Brawl IV in July 2005

• 

  Game of the bison (2006)

• 

  The National Buffalo Wing Festival in September 2012

and display information about the image

Panoramic view of the stadium during a game between the Buffalo Bisons and the Syracuse Chiefs in July 2018

Web links

Commons : Sahlen Field  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• milb.com: The Sahlen Field on the MiLB website (English)
• baseballpilgrimages.com: Sahlen Field (English)
• setlist.fm: Concert list of Pilot Field , North AmeriCare Park , Dunn Tire Park and Coca-Cola Field (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ History - St. John's-Grace Episcopal Church. In: buffaloah.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English). 
2. ↑ Ellsworth Statler in Buffalo Part 3 - The Hotel Statler (1905-1908) ( Memento of October 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
3. ↑ Buffalo bison. In: baseball-reference.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English). 
4. ↑ Bob Rich Jr. In: richentertainmentgroup.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English). 
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Sahlen Field. In: baseballpilgrimages.com. Accessed July 31, 2020 (English). 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Bisons Media Guide 2019 - page 132. ( PDF ) In: milb.bamcontent.com. Minor League Baseball , accessed July 31, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Triple-A All-Star Game Results (1988-1992). In: tripleabaseball.com. Accessed July 31, 2020 . 
8. ^ National Buffalo Wing Festival. In: buffalowing.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English). 
9. ↑ Ballpark Brawl / Event history. In: prowrestling.fandom.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English). 
10. ^ Triple-A All-Star Game Results (2008–2012). In: tripleabaseball.com. Accessed July 30, 2020 (English). 
11. ↑ Bisons will not play in 2020 as Minor League Baseball seasons are canceled. In: milb.com. Minor League Baseball , June 30, 2020, accessed August 1, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Blue Jays to call Sahlen Field home in 2020. In: milb.com. Minor League Baseball , July 24, 2020, accessed July 30, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Bob Nightengale: Toronto Blue Jays to play home games at Buffalo's Sahlen Field this season. In: eu.usatoday.com. USA Today , July 24, 2020, accessed August 1, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Blue Jays set 2020 schedule, first game in Buffalo is August 11. In: milb.com. Minor League Baseball , accessed August 1, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Goodbye, Dunn Tire Park. Hello, Coca-Cola Field! ( Memento of February 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
16. ^ Sahlen Field - the new home of the stove. In: milb.com. Minor League Baseball , October 9, 2018, accessed July 30, 2020 .