Fifth Third Field (Toledo, Ohio)

Fifth Third Field is the name of a minor league baseball stadium in Toledo, Ohio. The facility is home to the Toledo Mud Hens, an International League team and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

Fifth Third Field
Location406 Washington Street
Toledo, Ohio 43604
Coordinates41°38′54″N 83°32′20″W
OwnerLucas County
OperatorToledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc.
Capacity10,300 (8,943 fixed seats)
Field sizeLeft field: 320 ft
Center field: 400 ft
Right field: 320 ft
SurfaceNatural Grass
Construction
Broke groundOctober 20, 2000[1]
OpenedApril 9, 2002[2]
Construction cost$39.2 million
($55.7 million in 2019 dollars[3])
ArchitectHNTB
The Collaborative Inc.
Finkbeiner, Pettis & Strout Inc.
Project managerThe Gateway Group[4]
Services engineerH. T. Bernsdorff, Inc[5]
General contractorLathrop Construction Associates, Inc.[2]
Tenants
Toledo Mud Hens (IL) (2002–present)

The stadium seats 10,300 and opened in 2002. It hosted the 2006 Triple-A All-Star Game and home run derby.[6] The stadium was named one of the best minor league ballparks in America by Newsweek.[7] In the summer of 2007, ESPN.com rated The Roost section of Fifth Third Field as the best seats to watch a game in minor league baseball.[8]

The Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank purchased the naming rights to the stadium.[9] Fifth Third Bank also holds the naming rights to Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, Michigan and Fifth Third Arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati and formerly Fifth Third Field in Dayton.

Location

It is located in downtown Toledo, two blocks from the Maumee River. The new stadium replaced Ned Skeldon Stadium, located in suburban Maumee, as the Mud Hens' home. Ned Skeldon Stadium was described as "quaint" or "rustic" and the new park was intended to boost development downtown.[10] A small commercial area has sprung up around the park, centered on St. Clair Street, on the park's southeast side.[11]

The street address is 406 Washington Street. The park is bounded by Washington Street (southwest, first base), North Huron Street (northwest, third base), Monroe Street/Henry Morse Way (northeast, left field) and Msgr. Jerome Schmidt Way/North St. Clair Street (southeast, right field).

The Fifth Third Field is part of a complex that includes the SeaGate Convention Centre and the Huntington Center (formerly known as the Lucas County Arena). The Lucas County Commissioners teamed with HNTB Architecture Inc., a national sports architecture firm located in Kansas City and local architects and landscape architects The Collaborative Inc, of Toledo to design the Mud Hens Stadium.[12]

Following nearly two years of planning, the Stadium, with assistance from the City of Toledo and Lucas County, embarked upon an entertainment district expansion creating the district known as Hensville. The $21 million expansion is expected to draw 150,000–200,000 more people to Toledo's downtown.[13] The entertainment district stretches along North St. Clair Street from Washington to Monroe streets, adjacent to the ballpark.[14] The area includes the expanded Swamp Shop, new retail shop Holy Toledo, several rooftop bars, Nine restaurant, Fleetwood's Tap Room, and Hensville Park.[14] In addition to increased traffic for ballgames, the district will also hold events such as outdoor concerts, Monday movie nights, fireworks and other unique weekly events.[14]

Features
  • Fixed seats: 8,943
  • Picnic seats: 776
  • Handicap seats: 86
  • Seats in the "Roost": 282
  • Club Level seats: 1,200
  • Suites: 32[15]

The ballpark's largest crowd occurred on July 29, 2017 when 13,406 fans saw the Hens play the Rochester Red Wings.[16]

Scoreboards

In 2009, the Mud Hens installed new ribbon scoreboards along the first base and third base sides of the ballpark. They are in color and can display a variety of graphics, stats, and the game score. Also, the Mud Hens replaced their Fair Play Scoreboards scoreboard and Barco video board with a Daktronics video board display in left field which is in color and is a complete matrix board that shows the line score of the game. It is also zoned on the top 70% where it shows the current batter, animations, games, and replays. The new Daktronics video board also replaced the Fair Play message board below the old Fair Play scoreboard.[17]

In 2019, the Mud Hens, along with Daktronics installed a brand new 2,500-square-foot LED video display and two new ribbon scoreboards. The main video display is measured at 37 ft (11.28 m) high by 68.5 ft (20.88 m) wide. The main display, like the previous one, can show game score, live video, replays, current batter, graphics, and sponsored messages. The ribbon scoreboards are measured at around 3.5 ft (1.07 m) high by 157 ft (47.85 m) long. Similar to the main display, these scoreboards are capable of showing supplemental information such as the current batter, statistics, game score, graphics, and sponsored messages. Both video displays feature a 15HD pixel layout for high image clarity and contrast.[18]

References
  1. "Farr to Join Taft at Hens' Groundbreaking Ritual". Toledo Blade. October 20, 2000. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  2. Knight, Graham (October 21, 2009). "Fifth Third Field". Baseball Pilgrimages. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. "Gateway Sports & Recreation". The Gateway Group. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  5. "Series 4G Grease Duct Saves Costs and Enhances Look of New Mudhens Stadium" (PDF). Metal Fabrication, Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  6. "Triple-A All-Star Game Results (2003–2007)". Triple-A Baseball. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  7. Starr, Mark (August 5, 2002). "Cheat Sheet: Minor-League Baseball". Newsweek. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  8. Pahigian, Josh (May 10, 2008). "The Best of the Minor Leagues". ESPN. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
  9. Wagner, John (August 18, 2001). "Fifth Third Seals the Deal". Toledo Blade. pp. C1, C5. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  10. de Boer, Roberta (January 6, 1999). "Ballpark's Bright Site Named Right". Toledo Blade. p. 12. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  11. Eder, Steve (April 15, 2005). "Businesses Flock Near Hens". Toledo Blade. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  12. Jones, Mike (February 9, 2000). "Ballpark Design Contracto Up for Vote". Toledo Blade. p. 12. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  13. Guyton, Lissa. "Behind the scenes at new downtown Toledo entertainment district". www.13abc.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  14. "Hensville is a game changer - The Blade". www.toledoblade.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  15. "Fifth Third Field - By the Numbers". Toledo Mud Hens Baseball Club, Inc. February 19, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  16. Rains, Lucas. "Hicks walks off in front of record-setting crowd". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  17. "Toledo Mud Hens to Reveal New Daktronics Displays for 2009 Season" (Press release). Daktronics. March 19, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  18. "New video displays coming in 2019". MiLB.com. Minor League Baseball. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
Events and tenants
Preceded by
Ned Skeldon Stadium		 Home of the Toledo Mud Hens
2002–present		 Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Raley Field		 Site of the Triple-A All-Star Game
2006		 Succeeded by
Isotopes Park
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