Sun City Stadium

Sun City Stadium

Location	111th Avenue & Grand Avenue Sun City, Arizona, U.S.[1][a]
Owner	Del E. Webb Construction (1971–1983)
Capacity	3,500 (initial)[2] 5,500 (at closure)[3]
Field size	Left field: 340 feet (100 m) Center field: 425 feet (130 m) Right field: 370 feet (110 m)[2]
Acreage	12.5 acres (5.1 ha)[2]
Surface	Grass
Construction
Opened	1971
Demolished	1995
Builder	Del E. Webb Construction
Tenants
Mesa Solar Sox (AFL) (1992–1993) Sun City Rays (SPBA) (1990) Milwaukee Brewers (MLB) (spring training; 1973–1985)

Sun City Stadium was a baseball park located in Sun City, Arizona, from 1971 until the mid-1990s. It was built by developer Del Webb, and served as the spring training home of the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1973 to 1985.^[4] The park was dismantled in early 1995,^[3] and a retirement community was subsequently built on the site.^[5]

History

The park was dedicated on June 17, 1971, with the Sun City Saints, a women's softball team, winning a doubleheader from the Huntington Park Bluejays.^[6] In March 1972, the San Francisco Giants played several spring training games at the facility, including two against the Tokyo Orions.^[7] The first spring training game was held at the stadium on March 13, as the Giants were defeated by the San Diego Padres, 9–4.^[8] The Giants' lineup included Bobby Bonds, Dave Kingman, Garry Maddox, Gary Matthews, Willie Mays, and Willie McCovey.^[8] The stadium also hosted several college baseball games that month.^[9]

The Milwaukee Brewers moved their spring training from Tempe to Sun City in 1973,^[10] at which time the facility added clubhouses and another baseball field.^[11] At the end of September 1983, the Del E. Webb Construction Company sold the stadium to a construction and development company based in Glendale.^[12] The Brewers held spring training games in Sun City through 1985, after which they moved to Chandler.^[13] The final game the Brewers played in Sun City was on April 3, 1985, a 7–5 win over the Seattle Mariners.^[14]

After the Brewers left in 1985, the ballpark was closed and put up for sale.^[15] The women's softball team, the Sun City Saints, had disbanded after ownership raised their rent for use of the facility.^[16] In 1989, a Glendale-based three-person partnership bought the stadium to use for youth and adult amateur baseball leagues.^[15] The following year, the Sun City Saints reformed after ownership allowed them to use the stadium rent-free.^[17] Also in 1990, the stadium served as the home ballpark of the Sun City Rays of the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association.^[18] During this timeframe, the stadium became the property of a local bank, which was later absorbed by the federal Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC).^[18]

In May 1991, a different three-person partnership, incorporated as "Field of Dreams", leased the stadium from the RTC with an option to buy, primarily to host men's amateur baseball; the partnership changed the name of the facility to Sun Cities Stadium.^[19][20] In 1992 and 1993, the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League used the stadium as their home ballpark.^[21][22] In March 1993, a partnership known as Sun Cities Associates—two of the Field of Dreams partners plus an attorney from New York—bought the stadium for $500,000 from the RTC.^[23] Later that year, a closely-linked group, known as Sun Cities Stadium Associates, attempted to get the Kansas City Royals to move their spring training to a new stadium that would be built near the existing stadium.^[24][25] The effort, along with attempts to attract other major-league teams, proved to be unsuccessful.^[26] With no professional baseball tenant for the stadium, and a new baseball facility (Peoria Sports Complex opened in March 1994) located only 6 miles (9.7 km) away, ownership announced in June 1994 that the stadium would be torn down and replaced with a housing complex.^[27]

Notes

References

External links

• Stadium photos at digitalballparks.com
• Stadium photos via SmugMug