Max Bishop Stadium
Annapolis, MD
Review by Gary
With a little financial backing from the US military, Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland became a multi-million-dollar facility in 2005. Named after longtime Navy baseball coach Max Bishop, renovations to this ballpark created a permanent seating bowl and added FieldTurf to every part of the playing surface except the home plate area and pitcher’s mound. With a comfortably spaced chair-back seating capacity of 1,500, Max Bishop Stadium has been home to Navy Midshipmen baseball since 1962.
The stadium was once one of the home fields to the Eastern League’s Bowie BaySox. In 1994, the construction of the BaySox new ballpark, Prince George’s Stadium, was delayed due to a harsh winter. This forced the Baltimore Oriole farm team to play at other area venues for the first three months of the ’94 season. The rogue Bowie club also played its home games at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, the University of Maryland, Harry Grove Stadium in Frederick, MD, and the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ Frawley Stadium.
A classic brick exterior with tasteful archways surrounds Max Bishop Stadium. Beyond the outfield fence, parts of the Naval Academy can be seen. College Creek flows into the Severn River after running along the first base side of the ballpark. On the field, a nonsymmetrical outfield configuration adds to the attractiveness. A ten-foot wall in the left field corner is found 318 feet away before it lowers to 8’ feet in height as the dimensions jut out to 390 feet in straightaway center. The distances reduce drastically again to the scant 300’ lefty pull to the right field foul pole.
Dedication plaques adorn the inside and outside of Max Bishop Stadium, showing the generosity of many a Navy alumnus, including the Terwilliger Brothers after whom the playing field itself is named. Comfy blue individual seats run along a commodious concourse and the main galley sits right behind home plate below the press box. For those fans wanting a different sort of seating, navy blue and gold umbrella-covered picnic tables can be found behind the back rows of the stands.
While there is not a bad seat here, the ocean of foul territory is such that John Paul Jones himself might describe it is vast. Those foul areas pinch down quickly to each corner, making any ball hit to the poles probably in play. Max Bishop looks like a delightful place to see some Navy baseball before spending the day or night walking around the pretty town of Annapolis. Perhaps before the umpire yells, “Play Ball!”, they should exclaim, “You may fire when ready, Gridley!”
2023
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