Joe Becker Stadium, Joplin, Mo.

Joe Becker Stadium

Home plate entrance to Joe Becker Stadium, Sep-2011.

The seating and field, as seen from the outfield.

Quick Facts:

Location: Third and High streets, Joplin, Mo.
Opened: 1913 (stadium rebuilt after 1971)
Home team: Joplin Miners, Western Association (1914, 1922-32, 1934-54), Western League (1917-21, 1933); Joplin Cardinals, Western Association (1954); Missouri Southern Lions, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Capacity: 1,070 (as of 2011)

This has been the home of baseball in Joplin, Mo., for a century. Professional teams started playing here in 1914. Twice, the grandstand burned down, in 1936 and 1971, the second fire after professional baseball had been gone for nearly two decades. However, the park remains as a monument to the rich history of baseball in this southwest Missouri city along the path of historic Route 66. Mercifully, the stadium was about a mile north of the path of destruction wrought by a category F5 tornado in the spring of 2011 that devastated the city. The Missouri Southern Lions, a program in NCAA Division II, currently use the facility.

The park is named for Joe Becker, who ran the Miners from 1936-42 and also served as a pro baseball umpire and scout.

I was not able to get into Joe Becker Stadium during my 2011 visit.

Return to the Stadiums page
Return to Charlie’s home page
E-mail: charlies.ballparks@verizon.net