Phil Welch Stadium, St. Joseph, Mo.

Phil Welch Stadium

Main entrance to Phil Welch Stadium, Aug-2006.

The seating configuration.

A look out onto the field.

Chronological Tour: Stop 311

Quick Facts:

Location: Parkway, near Pickett and 28th streets, St. Joseph, Mo.
Opened: 1940
Home team: St. Joseph Saints, Western Association (1940-41, 1946-51, 1953-54); St. Joe Blacksnakes, American Association (2006-07)

Rating: 3 baseballs

This WPA-era ballpark hosted several seasons of play in the late 1940s and early 1950s. With minor renovations, it continued to host the Missouri Western State College team until they built their own field. Through 2005 and also after 2007, it also hosted a college summer team in today’s M.I.N.K. League (the initials stand for Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas). For a while, that team was called the Saints, the current M.I.N.K. team is known as the Mustangs, evoking the city’s location as the eastern terminus of the Pony Express in the 1860s.

In November 2005, the newly formed American Association of Independent Professional Baseball indicated that it was placing an expansion franchise in St. Joseph for 2006, to go along with four teams that jumped from the Northern League and five that came over from the Central League, which dissolved at season’s end.

The new Blacksnakes arranged for some additional renovations. New dugouts were complete for 2006, as well as some outbuildings. Further upgrades apparently depended on an agreement by the Blacksnakes to stick around in return for concessions by the City of St. Joseph, who owns the park. As it happened, though, the Blacksnakes pulled up their stakes after the 2007 season, relocating to Grand Prairie, Texas.

Game	Date	League	Level	Result
831	Sun 6-Aug-2006	American Assn	Ind.	Sioux Falls 10, ST JOSEPH 5, 8 inn, rain

Return to the College Ballparks page
Return to the Stadiums page
Return to Charlie’s home page
Send us feedback