CommunityAmerica Ballpark

CommunityAmerica Ballpark is a multi-purpose stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, home of the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association, and the temporary home of Kansas City Wizards (now Sporting Kansas City) of Major League Soccer. It is located in the Village West area at 1800 Village West Parkway. Many local area High School teams play at the ballpark and it is also the home of the Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils. It has also been used for concerts and some community events.

Description

The ballpark is named after CommunityAmerica Credit Union, a Kansas City area financial institution, which bought the naming rights to the park. The reported dimensions of CommunityAmerica are 300 feet (91 m) down the left field line (with an 18-foot (5.5 m) wall, affectionately known as "the Little Green Monster"), 411 feet (125 m) to left center, 396 feet (121 m) to dead center, 409 feet (125 m) to right center, and 328 feet (100 m) down the right field line. Walls are about five feet high, with the exception of the Little Green Monster and the bullpen area in left center.^[3] The walls are about 10 feet (3.0 m) high at the bullpens, which are in center field and add a few extra angles and contours to the outfield. The playing and seating areas are completely surrounded by a 25-foot (7.6 m) wide concourse. With the addition of bleacher seats in 2008, the park has 6,537 fixed seats, though its capacity (including the concourse, picnic area, right field grass berm, and center field party area) is usually considered over 7,500.

History

Ground was broken on September 4, 2002, and was completed in just over nine months by Titan Construction, opening June 6, 2003. Baseball had a record paid attendance of 10,345 on June 23, 2007.^[4] Major League Soccer attendance, with the new seating configuration, regularly exceeds 8,000, and its record paid attendance was 10,385 on March 29, 2008. The 2006 Northern League All-Star game was held at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on July 18, with related festivities the day before. Sporting Kansas City is playing its home games at the stadium while the team's new stadium is being constructed. Because of the current soccer presence, the Baseball configuration has taken an unusual step. In most natural grass fields the base lines where baserunners run between bases is dirt. However, CommunityAmerica Ballpark now sports dirt sliding pits just around the three bases, homeplate, and the pitchers mound. This is so grounds crews do not need to install excessive amounts of grass for each Wizards home game. On March 29, 2008, the Wizards played their first game at the ballpark and defeated D.C. United 2-0 in front of a sell-out crowd.^[5]

Before the start of the 2008 season, the left field berm area was replaced with permanent bleacher seats. Additional metal bleachers were added on the concourse running from behind the former left field berm to the bullpens in center field. This added 2,172 to the ballpark's fixed seating capacity, raising it from its originally 4,365 fixed seats.^[6]

On June 3, 2007 the ballpark was the site of a world record-setting performance of the Deep Purple hit "Smoke on the Water" by 1683 guitarists, in a publicity stunt for KYYS radio (now KZPT).^[7]

References

1. ^ "Field Conversion Begins at CommunityAmerica Ballpark". www.tbonesbaseball.com. http://www.tbonesbaseball.com/news/archive/index.html?article_id=1130. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
2. ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
3. ^ http://nlfan.com/kansascity/tickets.shtml
4. ^ "2007: A Season for the Records". www.tbonesbaseball.com. http://www.tbonesbaseball.com/news/headlines/index.html?article_id=1081. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
5. ^ "Wizards smother United in opener". kc.wizards.mlsnet.com. http://kc.wizards.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080329&content_id=146198&vkey=news_kcw&fext=.jsp&team=t105. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
6. ^ "CommunityAmerica Ballpark Undergoes First Major Renovation". www.oursportscentral.com. http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3586091. Retrieved 2008-04-27. 
7. ^ "1,683 Guitarists Play 'Smoke on Water'". www.washingtonpost.com. June 4, 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401180.html. Retrieved 2008-04-27.