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Silver Stadium was a baseball stadium located at 500 Norton Street in Rochester, New York. It was the home stadium for the Rochester Red Wings of the International League from 1929 to 1996, and for the New York Black Yankees of the Negro National League for their final season in 1948. The ballpark also briefly hosted professional football as it was the home field for the Syracuse Braves (AFL II) in 1936 and the Rochester Tigers (second American Football League) in 1936 and 1937.
The facility opened on May 2, 1929, as Red Wing Stadium. It was renamed to Silver Stadium on August 19, 1968, for Morrie Silver, then the president of Rochester Community Baseball, Inc. Silver Stadium hosted its final event, a Governors' Cup playoff game between the Columbus Clippers and the Red Wings, on September 10, 1996, and was demolished in late 1997 and early 1998. The site is now an industrial and office park. The stadium's nickname was "The Taj Mahal" of minor league ballparks for its grandeur. The stadium was often referred to as the "Wrigley Field of Rochester" due to its similar charm and historical significance to the Chicago Cubs' stadium, Wrigley Field.
In late 1956, the St. Louis Cardinals, then the major league affiliate of the Rochester Red Wings and also the owners of Red Wing Stadium and the Red Wings, were exploring the possibility of removing the franchise from their minor league system. In response, Morrie Silver, a Rochester businessman, spearheaded an effort to purchase both assets from the Cardinals. A total of 8,222 stockholders, including Silver, came together to form Rochester Community Baseball, Inc. (RCB) The effort was ultimately successful as RCB purchased both assets on February 27, 1957, ensuring that the team would remain in Rochester for the 1957 season and beyond. Red Wing Stadium was renamed Silver Stadium in Silver's honor on August 19, 1968.Date given on base plate of 2007 Red Wings bobblehead promotion commemorating the 1968 stadium renaming
Major League Baseball mandated changes to minor league ballparks in the 1990s to both upgrade the field of play and the facilities that the players used. Even though it was renovated in the mid-1980s, Silver was deficient in a number of these areas. Like most old ballparks of its era, it did not have any corporate luxury suites. The official story is that public sentiment in Rochester was in favor of building a new ballpark somewhere closer to the downtown area, with plenty of parking and access to expressways. However, at various times, proposals were made to build the new stadium in one of Rochester's , namely Greece, Avon and Victor.
Ground was broken on Frontier Field, a new stadium located in downtown Rochester next to Eastman Kodak's world headquarters, in 1995. Frontier Field opened on July 11, 1996, allowing Silver Stadium to close on September 10, 1996. Silver Stadium was demolished in late 1997 and early 1998, and the site is now an industrial and office park.
The New York Black Yankees of the Negro National League played at Red Wing Stadium in 1948. The season was the last in the team's history.
Outside of baseball, the ballpark briefly hosted professional football as Red Wing Stadium was the home field for the Syracuse Braves (AFL II) in 1936 and the Rochester Tigers (second American Football League) in 1936 and 1937.
Johnny Antonelli, a Rochester native who won the 1954 World Series as part of the New York Giants, ran a local Firestone business which sponsored "Johnny Antonelli Night" each year at the ballpark. As part of the festivities, the company would give away tires and televisions during the games.
Jim Kelly held his fourth-annual StarGaze charity event at the stadium in June 1995.
The largest attendance at the stadium was 31,000, for a concert by The Grateful Dead on June 30, 1988, eclipsing their previous record of 30,100, on July 2, 1987. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 3, 1987 and Rochester Times-Union, July 1, 1988 The second largest attendance corresponded to a “Billy Graham Crusade” in September 1988 which featured Christian artist Steve Green.
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