HISTORIC SANFORD MEMORIAL STADIUM

 

Sanford, Florida

 

Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium is a baseball stadium located in Sanford, Florida. The stadium stands at the site of the old Sanford Field, which was originally built in 1926. The stadium was built on the old site in 1951 as the Spring Training Facility of the New York Giants. Many Major League stars have played in the stadium including Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Tim Raines, and David Eckstein. The Stadium was refurbished in 2001 at a cost of two million dollars, and now offers many modern amenities along with the classic architecture typical of stadiums built in the early to mid 1900s.

 

The Stadium is currently home to the Orlando Baseball Association (OBA), 25t, 35t and 45t leagues, as well as Sanford Babe Ruth Baseball and the Sanford River Rats of the Florida Collegiate Summer League. The stadium previously served as a spring training facility for the New York Giants and Atlanta Braves. In 1942, the Boston Braves used the old field as its primary facility.

 

Sanford Stadium is the location where Jackie Robinson first took to the field in 1946 to play baseball as a member of a white Class AAA International League Team in Daytona Beach, Florida, which was partnered with the Montreal Royals. Unfortunately, this was also during an era of racial segregation and racial tensions, especially in that part of the Southern United States which made up the former Confederacy. By the time Robinson took the field, the crowd of local white citizens in the stands ended up booing him off the field and he was not able to play. The then-Sanford police chief had actually threatened to cancel the game if Robinson took the field.

 

Unused 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" standard size chrome postcard.

 

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