Bringing the Minors to the Mills

Buying tickets at Alumni Field, Jul-1996.

Yes, that’s an Elvis impersonator in the stands. And it wasn’t even Death Week.

Chronological Tour: Stop 96

• Location: Rogers and Village streets, MA 38 ¼ mile north of I-495 exit 38, Lowell, Mass.
• Opened: 1996 (for pro baseball)
• Closed: 1997 (for pro baseball)
• Additional names: Stoklosa Field (2003)
• Home team: Lowell Spinners, New York-Penn League (1996-97)
• Capacity: 4,000

Rating: 3 baseballs

The park, located on the outskirts of town, was a high school field. The Spinners added sufficient aluminum bleachers to bring the seating capacity to over 3000, and they also left room under the bleachers so people could stand under them in a rainstorm and not get too wet.

One of the quirks of the park was a very short right-field porch. With a street coming in on an angle, right field was less than 280 feet. However, the fence shot out to nearly 340 over a short distance. It isn’t quite as drastic an angle as the line at nearby Fenway Park, but it made games fun here.

The Spinners moved into LeLacheur Park in 1998. Today, the field goes by the name Stoklosa Field. It has reverted to use by local high schools; it has also served as home to a team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.