Midway Stadium is the name of two different minor league baseball parks in St. Paul, Minnesota, one of them being history and the other being very much in active use. The name derives from the proximity of both ballfields to the Minnesota State Fair Grounds, which are just a short distance to the north on, and on the west side of, Snelling Avenue. The section of St. Paul itself, just to the south of the ballpark sites, is also called the Midway district.
The first Midway Stadium was the home of the St. Paul Saints of the American Association from 1957-1960. It was located at 1000 North Snelling Avenue, on the east side of that highway. It was built with just a small uncovered and presumably expandable grandstand. It was intended to compete with Metropolitan Stadium for attracting a major league baseball team, but the already-larger capacity of "The Met" doomed Midway Stadium. It was abandoned for professional baseball once the Twins arrived in 1961 and displaced both the Saints and the Minneapolis Millers. It was used for minor events and as a Minnesota Vikings practice field for the next 20 years, and finally demolished in 1981 to make way for the Energy Park. That development, with all new streets and various buildings, rubbed out any trace of the ballpark's existence.
The second Midway Stadium was built in 1982 at roughly half the size of its namesake. It is located at 1711 Energy Park Drive. That's on the north side of that road, just west of Snelling, complemented by the Burlington Northern tracks to the north just beyond left field. Thus it is a mile or two west of the first Midway Stadium site. The ballpark started out in life as Municipal Stadium. It was and is the home of Hamline University's baseball team. When Mike Veeck and Bill Murray revived the Saints and also the independent Northern League in 1993, they set up shop there, at the soon-rechristened Midway Stadium.
The Saints' slogan is "Fun Is Good". Mike Veeck has proudly declared that Midway Stadium is "The ugliest ballpark in America!" Mike's late father was Bill Veeck, Jr. Among Bill's many accomplishments was planting the ivy at Wrigley Field. Bill used to say that "The most beautiful sight in the world is a ballpark filled with people!" On that basis at least, Midway Stadium is often every bit as beautiful as Wrigley.
Some good references:
- "Before the Dome", Nodin Press, 1993, edited by David Anderson.
- "On to Nicollet", Nodin Press, 1988, by Stew Thornley.
- "Ballparks of North America", McFarland & Company, 1989, by Michael Benson.
- "Green Cathedrals", SABR, 1986, and Addison-Wesley, 1992, by Phil Lowry.
Dimensions
First Midway Stadium
- Seating Capacity - given variously as 10,250 or 13,050
- Left Field - 321 ft.
- Center Field - 410 ft.
- Right Field - 321 ft.
Second Midway Stadium
- Seating Capacity - 6,069
- Left Field - 320 ft.
- Center Field - 400 ft.
- Right Field - 320 ft.
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