| Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium | |
|---|---|
| The Den | |
| Location | 450 Broad Street Newark, NJ 07102 |
| Opened | July 16, 1999 |
| Operator | Newark Bears |
| Surface | grass |
| Construction cost | $30 million |
| Capacity | 6,200 |
| Field dimensions |
Left Field: 302 feet (92 m) Left-Center Field: 364 feet (111 m) Center Field: 394 feet (120 m) Right-Center Field: 365 feet (111 m) Right Field: 320 feet (98 m)323 |
| Tenants | |
| Newark Bears (Can-Am) (2011-future) Rutgers University-Newark baseball (NCAA) New Jersey Institute of Technology baseball |
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Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium is a 6,200-seat baseball park in Newark, New Jersey, USA, that hosted its first regular season baseball game on July 16,1999, with former 1940's bear Yogi Berra throwing the ceremonial first pitch, as the tenants of the facility, the Newark Bears, took on the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds. It was built as the home of the Newark Bears baseball team, as well as to the college baseball teams of the Newark campus of Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
With the Bears' recent move from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League, Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium joins Yogi Berra Stadium as one of two Can-Am League venues in New Jersey.
The Newark Bears had joined the Atlantic League at its founding in 1998 but played their 'home' games at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut during that first season, sharing the park with the Bridgeport Bluefish. Since construction of the stadium was still not finished in 1999, the Bears played their first 20 home games at Skylands Park in Augusta, New Jersey, sharing the facility with the New Jersey Cardinals.
The Bears have nicknamed the stadium "the Den," representing the home of a bear. Originally, the stadium was to be built along the Passaic River, perhaps at or near Riverbank Park, but the eventual site was at Broad and Orange Streets, a block from the New Jersey Transit Broad Street Station. A block of Orange Street, between Broad Street and McCarter Highway, was vacated to allow for the ballpark to be built.
In 2001, the Bears added "Bears & Eagles" to the name of the park, to reflect the heritage represented by both the International League's Bears, and the Negro National League Newark Eagles, both of whom had played at Ruppert Stadium (demolished in 1967) in the area now called the Ironbound.
Since its opening on July 17, 2006, the Riverfront Stadium station on the Newark Light Rail line serves the stadium on game days and other scheduled events.
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