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War Memorial Stadium (Hampton, Virginia)

1948 establishments in VirginiaBaseball venues in VirginiaBuildings and structures in Hampton, VirginiaCollege baseball venues in the United StatesMinor league baseball venues
Sports venues completed in 1948Sports venues in Hampton RoadsThe Apprentice Builders

War Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Hampton, Virginia. It is primarily used for baseball and has been the home of the various incarnations of the Peninsula Pilots, including the current Coastal Plain League incarnation. It is also the home for the Apprentice School Builders college baseball team. The ballpark has a capacity of 3,750 people and opened in June, 1948. Peninsula War Memorial Stadium was designed by the legendary Branch Rickey as an affiliate for his Brooklyn Dodgers. The Newport News Dodgers won 3 Piedmont League Championships before Brooklyn moved to Los Angeles and the Dodgers were no more in 1958. In 1963 the Carolina League's Peninsula franchise (1963-1992) began play in the Stadium as the Top Class "A" club of the Washington Senators. The Peninsula Grays were born. The Cincinnati Reds followed with Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench playing in the Stadium in 1965. The 1965 team also won the pennant for best record but lost in the playoffs. The Kansas City/Oakland "A"s followed until 1968 when the Astros came in. The following started a great era: the era of the Phillies. The name Astros was kept for 1969 when the Phillies came knocking. That's when the club adopted the nickname Peninsula Pilots, which was used 1971, 1976–1986, 1989–1992. The Phillies were Peninsula's affiliate for much of that time winning 7 Carolina League Division Championships, including 6 trips to the Carolina League Championship Series. In 1980 the club had a record of 100-40 and swept the Durham Bulls in the League Championship Series. That team had a .714 winning percentage, which was the best in Carolina League history. It still stands as one of the top 20 all-time records in professional baseball history. The Seattle Mariners were the affiliate in Peninsula's last season and won the CL Championship. Then the era of professional baseball on the peninsula that dated back to 1893 was over. The team is honored by the Peninsula Pro Baseball Alumni Association and the Peninsula Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. Inductee and chairman is longtime Peninsula executive John Graham. War Memorial Stadium celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2008. Satchel Paige played his last professional game on June 21, 1966, for the Peninsula Grays of the Carolina League at War Memorial Stadium.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article War Memorial Stadium (Hampton, Virginia) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

War Memorial Stadium (Hampton, Virginia)
Kentucky Avenue, Hampton Wythe

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N 37.009304 ° E -76.387736 °
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Kentucky Avenue
23661 Hampton, Wythe
Virginia, United States
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Greenlawn Memorial Park (Newport News, Virginia)
Greenlawn Memorial Park (Newport News, Virginia)

Greenlawn Memorial Park, also known as Greenlawn Cemetery, is located at 2700 Parish Avenue, Newport News, Virginia. Greenlawn Memorial Park is a 50-acre (200,000 m2) cemetery located where two natural streams, Mill Dam Creek and Salters Creek, come together. The cemetery has been in continuous operation, serving the Newport News and Hampton, Virginia, since 1888. There are approximately 20,000 burials in the cemetery. Greenlawn Memorial Park is on the National Register of Historic Places.Greenlawn Cemetery was developed by the Newport News Cemetery Company beginning February 14, 1888. The incorporators were T. H. Gordon, Louis Bremond, I. E. White, Theodore Livezey, E. Clayton, E. B. Smith, T. E. Monis and M. B. Crowell. By the terms of the charter, they were authorized to associate others with them. Walter A. Post, George Benjamin West, Carter M. Braxton, W. B. Livezey, C. B. Nelms and W. J. Nelms were added as associates. At the center of the cemetery is a 25-foot (7.6 m) obelisk erected in 1900 marking the mass grave of 163 Confederate Prisoners of War. The 163 Confederate soldiers were re-interred there in 1900. These were POWs who died in the nearby Newport News POW camp between April 27, 1865 and July 5, 1865. At the foot of this monument is a granite ledger with the names, rank, state and unit of each soldier. Soldiers from 13 southern states are represented. The cemetery office building is a 1936 Sears Catalog Home.