Estadio Sixto Escobar

Boxer Sixto Escobar stands outside the stadium named in his honor, Dec-2022.

A piece of the seating area.

Looking out from behind what used to be home plate, with a football stand clearly visible.

• Location: Avenida Luis Muñoz Rivera (Highway 25), Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, P.R. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1932
• Home team: San Juan Senadores, Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico (1938-61); Santurce Cangrejeros, Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico (1939-61); Miami Marlins, International League (part of 1961); spring training, Cincinnati Reds (1935-36)
• Capacity: 9,400

The facility was named for Sixto Escobar in 1938. Escobar, a professional boxer, was the first world champion to ever come from the island. The entire park in which the stadium sits is actually dedicated to Escobar, and the stadium remains open to this day for recreational use, with a 400-meter running track and a grass infield for football (soccer).

By the 1940s, the distant outfield had come to be used by footballers for their practices and informal games. When the two baseball teams moved out to the newly built Hiram Bithorn Stadium in the Hato Rey barrio, football became the dominant sport played here. While no pro club has called Escobar its home, the stadium has played host to many tournaments, including the CONCACAF qualifier for the FIFA U-20 World Championship in 1976 and several national team matches from the 1970s into the 2000s.

The last significant repair to the facility took place in 2011, as a pro football club was seeking to play at the stadium, but they wound up setting up shop two towns away in Bayamón, at another ballpark that had long been used for Puerto Rico winter league baseball.

The grounds also contain a Puerto Rico sports hall of fame, which was not open at the time of my 2022 visit.