Corning Memorial Stadium
Corning, NY
Review by Gary
Located halfway between Toronto and New York City along the Chemung River, Corning Memorial Stadium was dedicated on September 12, 1948 with General Dwight Eisenhower making an appearance at the ceremony. Named to honor those lost in the two World Wars, a frieze over the main entrance commemorates those who served in both conflicts.
Today, the majestic grandstand building still includes both baseball dugouts, along with clubhouses, offices, and concessions. This vintage structure towers over an all-turf rectangular field used by the adjacent high school for its athletic programs. The slightly arced grandstand is unique in that both dugouts are not angled at 90-degrees from one another but instead run along the front of it. In the 21st century, these dugouts are used mainly for access to the clubhouses beneath the metal bleachers.
Holding approximately 3,000 fans (including the stands on the other side of the grid-iron), Corning Memorial Stadium was used for both “town ball” and minor league baseball for just over twenty years until 1969, when the baseball diamond was removed in favor of football and track. During its baseball years, facility was home to Pennsylvania-Ohio-New York (PONY) League teams from 1951 to 1956 (Athletics, Independents and Red Sox) and NY-Penn League teams from 1957 through 1969 (Red Sox, Cor-Sox, and Royals).
None of the pro teams ever averaged more than 1,000 fans per game with the highest single season attendance for any Corning team occurring in 1954 when the Corning Red Sox drew 61,582 faithful. These Red Sox finished 77-47, first in the PONY League. Some players from the champion Sox who would drink cups of coffee in the majors included Eli Grba, Jim Mahoney, Marlan Coughtry, and Jerry Zimmerman. Paul Splittorff of the 1968 Corning Royals would eventually pitch for the Kansas City Royals for his entire 14-year career.
Today, Corning Memorial Stadium is an exceptional venue to see a sporting event. Surrounded by a quarter mile track, the field in the center of the oval can be seen from any seat under the massive roof. The press box is located on top of the roof, affording spectacular views of the action in front of the distant, scenic landscape. When visiting the famous Corning Glass Museum just one-half mile away, swing by Corning Memorial Stadium to imagine a bit of baseball nostalgia or maybe a high school football game from the venerable stands.
2024
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This vintage postcard gives us some idea of what Corning Memorial Stadium looked like as a baseball venue.