A State of Exhilaration


The new seats, installed in 1998.


The field is framed by the Bluefield City Park.

Quick Facts:
Chronological Tour: Stop 182
Rating: 4 baseballs
Bowen apparently used to be a more unique facility. It was an all-wood seating bowl from 1939 until a 1974 fire. It was rebuilt as a concrete structure for 1975, with additional improvements in 1990, but until 1997 fans in the main seating area had to provide their own chairs or cushions. That changed in 1998, when stadium seats (appropriately orange) salvaged from the renovation of Anaheim Stadium were installed. However, the box seats (up against the screen, in front of the walkway) still consist of four stacking chairs in each box, propped up against the screen when not in use so they don’t collect rain.

It’s still a picturesque setting, though. The ball park is in a city park about a thousand feet from the West Virginia state line. The field has a West Virginia address but a Virginia phone number; like nearby Bristol, the Bluefields are twin cities. I used to think the park was in West Virginia but the trees were in Virginia; however, thanks to research by Matt Kerr of Pennsylvania, I’ve discovered that Bluefield City Park is administered by the City of Bluefield, W.Va., but the stadium is entirely on the Virginia side of the state line. A hillside with nothing but trees sits behind the outfield, making this a great setting for baseball.

The Orioles have had an affiliation with Bluefield since 1958, making it the longest-standing agreement in all of the minor leagues – something of which they are justly proud.

Game # Date League Level Result
422 5-Aug-2000 Appalachian R Princeton 6, BLUEFIELD 3, 1st
423 5-Aug-2000 Appalachian R BLUEFIELD 8, Princeton 7, 8 inn, 2d
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This page updated 12-Aug-2009