Jackie Robinson Ballpark
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Jackie Robinson Ballpark
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City Island Ball Park
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Entrance to Jackie Robinson Ballpark
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Daytona Beach, Florida  United States |
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| Coordinates | 29°12′34″N 81°1′0″W / 29.20944°N 81.01667°WCoordinates: 29°12′34″N 81°1′0″W / 29.20944°N 81.01667°W |
| Built | 1914 (ball field) 1929 (grandstand) |
| MPS | Daytona Beach Multiple Property Submission |
| NRHP Reference # | 98001253 |
| Added to NRHP | October 22, 1998 |
The Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark (also known as Jackie Robinson Stadium or City Island Ball Park) is a historic baseball field in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is located at 105 East Orange Avenue on City Island, in the Halifax River.
The ballpark, originally known as City Island Ball Park, opened in 1914. It consisted of a baseball field and a set of wooden bleachers. The present day grandstand and press box were built in 1962. It is the home of the Daytona Tortugas and the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. The Daytona Tortugas were founded in 1993. They have won six Florida State League championships, 1994, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2011, and 2013.
The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats have also achieved recent success, including six consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) baseball championships from 1999–2004, and seven more in 2006–2012.
One reason the stadium is named for Jackie Robinson is the fact that Daytona Beach was the first Florida city to allow Robinson to play during the 1946 season's spring training. Robinson was playing for the Triple-A Montreal Royals, who were in Florida to play an exhibition game against their parent club, the Brooklyn Dodgers. Both Jacksonville and Sanford refused to allow the game due to segregation laws. Daytona Beach permitted the game, which was played on March 17, 1946. This contributed to Robinson breaking the Major Leagues' color barrier the following year when he joined the Dodgers. The refusal by Jacksonville, previously the Dodgers' spring training home, led the team to host spring training in Daytona in 1947 and build Dodgertown in Vero Beach for the 1948 season. A statue of Robinson is now located at the south entrance to the ballpark.
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