Dickey-Stephens Park

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Dickey-Stephens Park is a new stadium in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Arkansas Travelers minor league baseball team. It replaced the club’s former home, Ray Winder Field in Little Rock. Dickey-Stephens Park hosted its first baseball game when the Arkansas Travelers played the Frisco RoughRiders on April 12, 2007. The new facility, with a seating capacity of at least 7,000 people, boasts a number of state-of-the-art features including free Wi-Fi access.

Built for the start of the 2007 season, Dickey-Stephens Park on North Little Rock`s riverfront is only the third ballpark to be the home of the Arkansas Travelers. Kavanaugh Field, which is now the site of Little Rock`s Quigley Stadium, housed the club from its inception in 1896 until after the 1931 season. Then the Travs began play at an “all new steel and concrete facility” on Wednesday, April 13, 1932, in what was then known as Travelers Field.

In 1966 Travelers Field was renamed to honor Ray Winder, who in 52 years rose from ticket seller to owner and eventually savior of the Travelers. It was Ray Winder who spearheaded the return for the Travelers to Little Rock, as a fan-owned enterprise, after a brief hiatus during the 1959 season. In 1990, Ray Winder Field hosted the largest crowd ever to witness a baseball game in Arkansas, more than 12,000, to watch Fernando Valenzuela`s rehabilitation start. After 74 years, Ray Winder Field hosted its farewell baseball game with 8,307 in attendance on September 3, 2006.

Funded by a North Little Rock voter-approved one-cent sales tax, Dickey-Stephens Park was built through a partnership between the Travs, Little Rock financier Warren Stephens and the city of North Little Rock. After donating an 11-acre plot of land east of the Broadway Bridge, Mr. Stephens named the ballpark in honor of two pairs of baseball-loving brothers; Stephens Inc. Founders Jack and Witt Stephens, and Hall of Fame Catcher Bill Dickey and his brother Skeeter, also a former Major League ballplayer. Both Dickey brothers worked for Stephens Inc. following their baseball careers. Bill, who caught for the 1925 Little Rock Travelers, also managed the club for one season following a 17-year Hall-of-Fame career with the New York Yankees that included seven World Series titles.

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