Clipper Magazine Stadium is a baseball park located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the Northwest Corridor neighborhood. It is the home of the Lancaster Barnstormers, the city's Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) franchise. It hosted its first regular-season baseball game on May 11, 2005, with the Barnstormers losing to the Atlantic City Surf, 4–3. The ballpark also serves as the corporate headquarters for the Atlantic League and seats 6,000 people.
The ballpark features a natural grass-and-dirt playing field. Its many food stands serve Pennsylvania Dutch and Philadelphia cuisine such as whoopie pies, cheesesteaks, hoagies, Tastykakes, soft pretzels from local bakeries and the Philly Pretzel Factory, barbecue from the four-time state champion Hess's BBQ, hot dogs from Kunzler & Company, beer from the Lancaster Brewing Company and Yuengling, ice cream and tea from Turkey Hill, salty treats from Utz and Snyder's of Hanover, and confections from nearby Hershey's. Clipper Magazine Stadium lies in the Northwest Corridor of Lancaster city, which includes Franklin & Marshall College and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. In October 2008, the venue hosted vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin during the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
About 104,000 fans on BallparkDigest.com, a website by August Publications, ranked Clipper Magazine Stadium the "2020 Best of the Ballparks" out of all independent U.S. and Canadian baseball parks by a margin of 86 to 14 percent over the next runner-up, U.S. Steel Yard in Gary, Indiana. Clipper Magazine Stadium also won the 2021 "Best of the Ballparks MLB Partner Leagues" over runner-up, Franklin Field in suburban Milwaukee. The Atlantic League awarded Clipper Magazine Stadium the "Ballpark of the Year" following the end of its 2013 regular season, commemorating the Barnstormers staff for their excellence in groundskeeping and operations.
Clipper Magazine, a local periodical company, purchased the naming rights for $2.5 million over ten years beginning in 2006. They extended this agreement in 2013 through the 2019 season.
History
Forty-four years before the opening of Clipper Magazine Stadium and the Lancaster Barnstormers' inaugural season, the Lancaster Red Roses entertained baseball enthusiasts for 20 years at Stumpf Field. Efforts for a new stadium and a new team began in 1987, and what was a long sixteen-year battle finally paid off with an announcement in 2003. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania agreed to fund roughly half of the cost with Opening Day Partners and the city of Lancaster covered the remainder. The original plan in 2001 called for a proposed, $20-million ballpark to be constructed on the Diseley Farm site, across from Long's Park in Manheim Township. However, those plans were cancelled because of residential concerns about traffic and political concerns about the use of eminent domain and rezoning. After this plan was terminated, most Lancaster County politicians preferred a downtown ballpark for the purpose of urban renewal. The Lancaster County Redevelopment Authority settled on an industrial site on the corner of North Prince and Frederick streets, where a company called Ace Rents existed. Initially, Ace Rents stalled the process, but quickly came to an agreement as they did not want to cause delay. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 28, 2004, and Clipper Magazine Stadium was finished just before it opened on May 11, 2005.
With its brick façade and steel beams, the architecture of Clipper Magazine Stadium alludes to its industrial surroundings. Located in the Northwest Corridor, the ballpark faces many downtown factories and spans a former rail yard. Coincidentally, this section of Lancaster city (between North Mary and North Charlotte Streets, south of the Harrisburg Pike) was historically known as the "base ball ground" circa 1886.
Atlantic League All-Star Games
On July 12, 2007, the Lancaster Barnstormers hosted the Atlantic League's tenth-anniversary All-Star Game at Clipper Magazine Stadium. A crowd of 7,361 watched the opposing North Division won, 8-6. Lancaster players Jeremy Todd and Dominick Ambrosini both hit home-runs, but it was not enough to put their South Division team ahead.
On July 13, 2016, the Barnstormers hosted their second Atlantic League All-Star Game, joining their Freedom Division teammates to win the by a score of 3-1.