LECOM Park is a baseball field located in Bradenton, Florida. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and is named after a 15-year naming rights deal was signed with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has its main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, and also a campus in Bradenton. It was formerly known as McKechnie Field, named for Bradenton resident and Baseball Hall of Fame great Bill McKechnie, who led the Pirates in 1925 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1940 to World Series titles. He was also a coach with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.
Several members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, such as Roberto Alomar, Johnny Bench, Bert Blyleven, Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente, Andre Dawson, Vladimir Guerrero, Roy Halladay, Reggie Jackson, Fred McGriff, Bill Mazeroski, Joe Morgan, Jack Morris, Phil Niekro, David Ortiz, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines, Cal Ripken Jr., Mariano Rivera, Ivan Rodriguez, Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Willie Stargell, Alan Trammell, Larry Walker, Ted Williams, and Dave Winfield have played at LECOM Park.
The stadium also hosts Minor League Baseball games for the Bradenton Marauders, the Pirates' Single-A affiliate in the Florida State League.
LECOM Park's nostalgic charms in its city neighborhood appeal to many baseball traditionalists and ballpark enthusiasts, some of whom consider the facility to be Florida's version of Fenway Park. It is built in a Florida Spanish Mission style, with white stucco on the main grandstand and covered bleachers over the reserved seating section. The Pirates and the City of Bradenton celebrated their 50th anniversary together during the 2018 spring training season, which included an agreement between the city and the Pirates to continue their partnership through 2037.
Built in 1923, it is the oldest stadium still used for spring training. As of the 2023 season, it is the second-oldest stadium in Minor League Baseball, behind only Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, which dates to 1914. It is also the third oldest stadium currently used by a major league team after Fenway Park, built in 1912, and Wrigley Field, built in 1914.
The stadium hosted an annual charity game between the Pirates and the State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota.
Several improvements to the field were made possible through the efforts of the Bradenton Boosters, a volunteer club of local residents that not only raises funds for ballpark improvements, but also operate LECOM Park on game day. Since 1979, members of the Boosters have volunteered as the Pirates spring training game-day staff. The booster club's 120 members currently serve as ushers, program sellers, security personnel, merchandise sellers, and press box attendants throughout spring training season.
History Early era: 1919–1941 The Cardinals' first term Prior to its construction, the stadium's location was the site of Ninth Street Park, which was used by the Bradenton Growers of the Florida State League. The site was also the home to the Manatee County fairgrounds as well as a local nine-hole golf course.
On December 9, 1920, the Manatee County Board of Trade voted to bring major league baseball to the county in an attempt to stimulate the local economy. Prior to the 1920s, no major league team played south of St. Petersburg. However, Robert M. Beall Sr., the founder of the Bradenton-based department store, Bealls, as well as the team president and majority owner of the Bradenton Growers, was connected to Sam Breadon, the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals. Breadon also owned a citrus grove inside the county and was familiar with the area. Beall convinced Breadon to move the Cardinals from their training facility in Orange, Texas to Bradenton. As part of the agreement, Beall agreed to sell $2,000 in tickets for the exhibition games. In a joint venture between the Cardinals and the city, the ball field was constructed with a grandstand and bleachers for $2,000. The baseball field was just east of where LECOM Park stands today, on the site of the Bradenton Golf Club, a nine-hole golf course. After completion, city engineers discovered that the field's second base, was lower than home plate, and the outfield was even lower than second base.
However, the park opened in 1923. The Commissioner of Baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, attended the field's opening ceremonies. He was flown in on a biplane, which was piloted by Harry Land, a member of Manatee County Board of Trade who approved bringing major league baseball to Bradenton. The plane landed in what was the outfield at the time, a par 5 hole. In 1923, the grandstand sat 1,300 and 700 could easily occupy the bleachers, which included separate facilities for segregated African-American fans. Meanwhile, the fairground buildings were converted into makeshift locker rooms.
The Growers era The Bradenton Growers occupied LECOM Park, which was then named City Park, from 1923 to 1924 and again in 1926. The field was later renamed Ninth Street Park and then Braves Field.
Phillies and Red Sox
The Cardinals played in Bradenton in the very next season, before leaving for Stockton, California, in . However, they were replaced by the Philadelphia Phillies, who played in the park until , until they left for Winter Haven. In 1928, the Boston Red Sox were looking at coming to Bradenton, after spending the prior three years training in New Orleans. However, before the team would commit to the Bradenton, the Red Sox officials asked to see the attendance and financial figures of what they would see if they moved their training to Bradenton. Robert M. Beall Sr. gave the Red Sox the actual figures they requested. The Boston officials were impressed with Beall's honesty. Every other city competing for the Red Sox had given the club projected figures on what they might expect if they choose their city, not their actual figures. The Red Sox trained in Bradenton until . That season the Cardinals returned to Bradenton and would stay there for the next seven springs.
The Cardinals' second term: The "Gashouse Gang" era In the 1930s, the Cardinals returned during what journalists refer to as "the gashouse gang era". During that time they had ball players including Paul Derringer and future-Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean. Dean, who played at the stadium in the 1930s, liked Bradenton so much, he bought a local gas station and hung out there when he wasn't playing, giving the Cardinals' famed Gashouse Gang its nickname. Dean also bought a home in Bradenton. To keep him out of trouble, the Cardinals sent him to Bradenton weeks before spring training, and paid a local sportswriter to keep an eye on him. In the Cardinals moved their training to City Island Ball Park, located in Daytona Beach.
Boston Braves' first era The Boston Bees (today's Atlanta Braves) played at the stadium until , when they left for San Antonio, Texas. The stadium did not host another team for seven years.
World War II: Camp Weatherford During World War II, many major league teams avoided the long trip to Florida for training, opting instead to hold their sessions closer to their home cities to cut down on costs. The United States military used the field as a training base from 1941 to 1945. The base was first named Camp Bradenton. However the name was later changed in 1943 to Camp Weatherford, in honor of Pfc. Willie Weatherford, who was the first Florida native killed in the war. The baseball field was filled with temporary buildings and tents and used as a United States Army Signal Corps training facility. The offices of the city's Public Works Department are next to the ballpark on land that was also part of the camp. The camp was attached to Drew Army Airfield, located in Tampa. When the war ended, that airfield became the Tampa International Airport. Meanwhile, the Camp Weatherford location was used once again for baseball. An historical marker now stands between the city offices and the stadium.
Return to baseball: 1948–1968 The Braves' second era In , Lou Perini, the owner of the Boston Braves (later renamed the Milwaukee Braves/Atlanta Braves) moved his club's spring training to Bradenton, after finding his club's training facility in Fort Lauderdale too windy. The Braves played in Bradenton for one year, however the city stated that if the Braves agreed to return the very next season, the city would build new clubhouses, field boxes along the first and third baselines and a new press box. The Braves agreed and stayed in Bradenton until . The Braves won three National League pennants while they trained there in 1948, 1957 and 1958, and won the 1957 World Series. In the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee, but kept playing spring ball in Bradenton. Future Hall of famer, Hank Aaron played his first games in the major leagues in Bradenton as a rookie in 1954.
In , Bradenton became the first club to allow an African-American baseball player, Sam Jethroe of the Boston Braves. This was a major breakthrough because had Florida not allowed him to join, the state would have lost all of its baseball clubs.
In March 1957, the Bradenton City Council granted permission for a semi professional Negro league baseball team to play its 10 game home schedule at the ballpark. The City of Bradenton had previously segregated Black teams to the city's "Negro quarter".
In 1962, the stadium was finally renamed after Bradenton-native, Bill McKechnie, in honor of his induction that year into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager.
However, after the spring training session, Lou Perini moved the Braves to Connie Mack Field, after spending $1 million on a development in West Palm Beach. The city scrambled to get a new major league team into McKechnie Field. The city and the Philadelphia Phillies almost landed in Bradenton, however city officials in Clearwater fixed several of the issues that the Phillies were unhappy about at Jack Russell Stadium. That same year the field was formally named McKechnie Field.
Kansas City/Oakland Athletics era The Kansas City Athletics played at McKechnie Field from 1963–1968. Ironically, the team left Connie Mack Field for Bradenton, after the Milwaukee Braves arrived in West Palm Beach. The team was not open to sharing their spring training facilities or stadium with the Braves. The City of Bradenton talked A's owner Charlie Finley into staying at McKechnie until . By that time, the A's relocated from Kansas City to Oakland. Finley believed that his west coast team should train on the west coast, in Mesa, Arizona. During the Athletics tenure, Finley routinely tied his Athletics team mascot, a donkey named "Charlie O", to a tree inside the stadium during games."
The Pirates land: 1969–present day Once the Athletics left Florida for the west coast, Bradenton made plans to attract a new major league club. The city would attempt to lure the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Cleveland Indians to McKechnie Field. At the time, the Indians had a ten-year contract to play at Randolph Field, located in Tucson, Arizona and were written off by Bradenton officials. However the Pirates were unhappy at Terry Park, their spring training home for 14 years, located in Fort Myers. In February 1968, Bradenton representatives met with Pirates' general manager Joe Brown and owner John W. Galbreath and both sides agreed to a lease of 40 years, with an option for another 40 years. In 1969 the Pittsburgh Pirates began their lease of McKechnie Field. Still the team threatened to move several times in the first 34 years they had been there.