October 2011

The Durham Athletic Park, known to local fans as "The DAP", was constructed in 1926 as the home ballpark for the Durham Bulls, a minor league franchise, who had been playing at Trinity College (now known as Duke University). An homage to the team name, it was first called El Toro Park before changing its name in 1933. The Bulls played in the Piedmont League from 1920 to 1933, when the Great Depression forced many baseball clubs to suspend operations.

Tragically in 1939, a fire burned down the wooden grandstand, forcing the Bulls to construct makeshift bleachers until a new, metal grandstand opened on April 7, 1940. The Durham Bulls encountered financial swings that forced the team to disband in the 1970s, but became internationally famous after the 1988 release of Bull Durham, a romantic comedy about minor league baseball, filmed at Durham Athletic Park. With the instant fame the Durham Bulls became a Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, forcing them to move away from "The DAP" into a larger facility. 

Just two blocks away from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Doubleday Field is named after Abner Doubleday, a Civil War general and one of baseball's pioneers. Built in 1920 on the historic farm of Elihu Phinney, Doubleday Field hosted the Hall of Fame Game between 1940 and 2008 during Induction Weekend to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The original stadium contained a wooden grandstand that was replaced in 1939 during a Works Project Administration effort to modernize the field. In 2009 the inagural Hall of Fame Classic was played at Doubleday Field between retired baseball legends which has continued annually during Father's Day weekend. 

While Doubleday Field regularly hosts American Legion and amateur leagues, the Cooperstown Hawkeyes of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League began playing summer baseball in 2010. 

Located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Wahconah Park still has a wooden grandstand, a rarity in 21st century baseball. Constructed in 1919, Wahconah Park has hosted over a dozen different minor league and independent league teams, including affiliates for the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. Over 200 ballplayers have made it to the Major Leagues after playing at Wahconah Park. 

The Pittsfield Colonials of the Canadian American Association played at Wahconah Park from 2010 to 2011, playing teams from Quebec, Newark, and Worcester. On May 3, 2009, Amherst College and Williams College played an exhibition at Wahconah to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the first intercollegiate baseball game between the two schools. Both Sports Illustrated and ESPN Classic have tried to capture the nine decades of baseball played at Wahconah Park.