McCormick Field Information & McCormick Field Links at HealthHaven.com

McCormick Field
Location	30 Buchanan Place; Asheville, North Carolina 28801
Coordinates	35°35′14″N 82°32′57″W / 35.58722°N 82.54917°WCoordinates: 35°35′14″N 82°32′57″W / 35.58722°N 82.54917°W
Opened	1924
Renovated	1959, 1991, 2007
Surface	Natural Grass
Capacity	4,000
Field dimensions	Left Field - 326 ft (99.4 m); Left-Center - 370 ft (112.8 m); Center Field - 373 ft (113.7 m); Right-Center - 320 ft (97.5 m); Right Field - 297 ft (90.5 m)
Tenants
	Asheville Tourists (SAL) (1924-present); UNC Asheville Bulldogs (Big South Conference); Asheville Blues (NSL) (1940s)

McCormick Field is a baseball park and home of the minor league Asheville Tourists. As befits the hilly city of Asheville, North Carolina the ballpark sits on a section of level ground partway up one of the city's hills, providing a picturesque atmosphere. The park features an amusing scoreboard which reads "Visitors" in the guest slot and "Tourists" in the home slot.

The ballpark was built in 1924 and was named after Asheville resident Dr. Lewis McCormick. Lights were installed for night time play prior to the 1930 season.^[1] It also served as home field for the Asheville Blues of the Negro Southern League during the 1940s.^[1] The facility, which was largely wood and which developed a leaky roof, was renovated in 1959 then rebuilt in concrete between the 1991 and 1992 seasons. The 1992 ballpark kept a similar layout to the original McCormick Field. However, fans enjoy new expanded restrooms and bigger concession stands. New clubhouses were built and lights erected as player and field enhancements, but one of the "biggest" renovations was the wall behind the cozy right field area, only some 300 feet (91 m) away from home plate. The height of the wall was more than tripled, as it now stands 36 feet (11 m) tall (nearly the same height as Fenway Park's "Green Monster"), largely to protect the parking lot just beyond it. Additional renovations took place in 2007.

The ballpark served as one of the settings for the 1988 film Bull Durham.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b "Ballparks of the Negro Leagues and Barnstorming Black Baseball Teams". http://www.nlbpa.com/ballparks.html. Retrieved 2009-06-17.

[edit] External links

Photos of the ballpark

[nlbpa_ballparks-0] "Ballparks of the Negro Leagues and Barnstorming Black Baseball Teams". http://www.nlbpa.com/ballparks.html. Retrieved 2009-06-17.

[1]