Municipal Stadium - Hagerstown Suns

Hagerstown Suns

Municipal Stadium 274 East Memorial Boulevard Hagerstown, MD 21740	Opened: 1930	Capacity: 4,600	Elevation: 490'

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Municipal Stadium Facts, Figures & Firsts

Construction cost: $14,000

Financing: Funding for the stadium was provided by the Hagerstown Athletic Field Association, which was founded in 1919 to supervise the city's previous ballpark, called Willow Lane Park, from which revenue accumulated was used to pay for its replacement, and the "Buy A Board" community fundraising drive that netted about $3,000 by having the public purchase the boards, at $1 apiece, that were used to build the fence that originally surrounded the stadium. The goal for the public assistance campaign was $4,000 so rentable in-stadium signage was added to address the shortfall.

Architect: J. B. Ferguson Company

Was built in six weeks to replace the city's previous stadium, which stood a half-mile to the west until it had to be torn down to make way for a school that also opened in 1930. That school, Bester Elementary, was demolished in 2014.

Owned by the City of Hagerstown.

Has always been called Municipal Stadium.

The Suns' current lease with the city expires after the 2016 season. The most recent lease extension between the two parties was approved on April 29, 2014 and required the Suns to pay $70,000 to Hagerstown for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Prior to that two-season lease extension, the Suns had long paid only $1 per year to rent the stadium.

The Suns' (home) dugout is on the first base side of the stadium.

The most significant renovations to the stadium occurred in 1981 and 1995. New seats were installed in both of those years, while new lights and a public address system were a part of the $546,000 worth of upgrades in 1981. In 1995, $500,000 was spent and the bar area past the third base bleachers was created.

Willie Mays played in his first minor league game here as a member of the Trenton Giants on June 24, 1950. Starting in center field and batting sixth for Trenton, Mays was hitless in three at-bats in his debut. Despite that, on August 9, 2004 the Suns retired the number 24 that Mays famously wore for the big league Giants in a pregame ceremony at Municipal Stadium in which Mays attended and addressed the crowd as a (paid) guest of honor. Worth noting, Mays broke the color line of the Interstate League, then in its 27th season, at Municipal Stadium in 1950 and when he was honored there in 2004 the Suns were a Giants affiliate.

George H. W. Bush became the first U.S. President to attend a minor league game when he stopped at Municipal Stadium on June 22, 1990 on the way to Camp David to watch the Suns play the Harrisburg Senators. The president sat in the stands and stayed for most of the game, won 6-3 by Hagerstown, leaving in the 7th inning for the presidential retreat that's within Catoctin Mountain Park, which is about 15 miles east of the stadium.

Minor league tenants: Hagerstown Hubs (1930-1931), Hagerstown Owls (1941-1949), Hagerstown Braves (1950-1953), Hagerstown Packets (1954-1955), Hagerstown Suns (1981-present)

First game: May 8, 1930; the Hagerstown Hubs beat the Frederick Warriors, 14-6, with 1,400 in attendance. Carl Hinkle threw the first pitch in the stadium's history, to a Frederick batter with the last name of Nizder. Hinkle was the winning pitcher in the inaugural game with the Warriors' starting pitcher, Jerome Mahoney, taking the loss.

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