Though only built in the
early 1990's, League Stadium looks much older than this. The reason for
this is simple - it was built as a set for the movie "A League Of Their
Own". At least most of it was - the field and a small portion of the grandstand
existed prior to the filming. The almost completely covered grandstand
is made entirely of wood. There are about 10 rows of box seats which
were added in 1997 - they came from Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. The
rest of the seating is backless benches. Much of the bench seating has
poor sightlines because of the numerous wooden poles that are used to support
the roof. A simple electronic scoreboard is located in right-center field
while a manually operated scoreboard is located in left field. Some of
the art work from the movie still exists at League Stadium today - the
most obvious is a large Rockford Peaches sign directly below the scoreboard
in left field. The concourse is located behind the grandstand and partially
beneath it. There is just one concession stand with only the standard ballpark
fare offered. Beer stands are also located at the top of the grandstand.
There is also a small souvenir stand which was basically a room with one
rack of shirts and a display case. Despite the feel of an old stadium,
the team still felt it necessary to do between inning contests, have sound
effects between batters, and play the most annoying song - the YMCA. A
mascot named Slugger was also on hand, but did little to entertain the
crowd. Certainly a unique place to take in a game. Unfortunately, the Frontier League
team moved out after the 2002 season and pro baseball has not returned here since.
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