McBride Stadium

Outside of McBride Stadium, Jul-2002.

The seating bowl, as viewed from the top of the hill beyond the left-field foul pole.

The view from the top of the first-base grandstand.

• Location: NW 13 Street north of National Road (US 40), Richmond, Ind.
• Opened: 1936 (renovated 1995)
• Home team: Richmond Roses (1946-48), Richmond Tigers (1949-51), Ohio State/Ohio-Indiana League; Richmond Roosters, Frontier League (1995-2005); Earlham Quakers, North Coast Athletic Conference
• Capacity: 2,500

Rating: 2 baseballs

In the 1940s and 1950s, minor league baseball came to town, and McBride was its home. The town went without pro ball for about 40 years, though, until the Frontier League came in to start up its brand of independent baseball.

The main stadium structure consists of wooden benches built into concrete, overhung by a large roof. There are three portals into the stadium, which provide the only fresh air entry from behind the field. Ceiling fans attempt to circulate the air in the grandstand, but the park can be brutal even for night games. New dugouts and outbuildings were installed upon the Roosters’ arrival in 1995.

Fans can also take in the game from Rowdy’s Roost along the first-base side, or along a grass berm rising to street level on the third-base side.

In addition to the Roosters, McBride Stadium is also the home field for the Red Devils of Richmond High School as well as the Quakers of Earlham College, a four-year school founded in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends.

During the 2005 season, the Roosters announced their intention to move to Traverse City, Mich., for 2006. The club will be known as the Traverse City Beach Bums.