📍 Rochester, New York
⚾ Home of the Rochester Red Wings

Taking to the diamond each season since 1899, the Rochester Red Wings are the continent’s oldest continuously operating sports franchise at any level below the majors. This Triple-A baseball club, boasting an incredibly exciting and rich history for a minor league team, has played at Innovative Field in downtown Rochester since the facility opened in the summer of 1996.

The Red Wings previously played at just north of the city at beloved Silver Stadium from 1929 until its downtown replacement was built in 1996. The club would move in to then-Frontier Field for the start of the 1997 campaign, sharing the multi-purpose venue with the Rochester Raging Rhinos – a soccer club in USL League One – for about a decade and the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse for two seasons in the early 2000s. Later, after both of these teams departed, the Red Wings made enhancements to improve the long-term viability of the park as a baseball-only venue.

The ballpark did, however, hold a  “Frozen Frontier” event in 2013, which saw the city’s first outdoor hockey matchup between the Rochester Americans and Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League. Innovative Field was also the site of the Triple-A All-Star Game in 2000.

Rochester has maintained notably stable relationships with their major league affiliates over the years, beginning with a 31-year agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals that would earn them the Red Wing moniker that’s still in use to this day. The Baltimore Orioles were the team’s longest affiliation to date, spanning more than 40 seasons. They were also the top-level club of the Minnesota Twins for 17 years before entering their current deal with the Washington Nationals in 2021. Through it all, the Red Wings have secured 19 International League championships and 5 division titles on their way to becoming one of the winningest teams in Triple-A baseball.

Rochester’s success and storied past is mirrored in the gameday atmosphere of Innovative Field. Unlike other clubs that are simply a copy-paste of the same minor league experience, the Red Wings have their own distinct identity with many time-honored twists and traditions. To start, the team takes the field to “Here Come the Red Wings“, a song composed by legendary Rochester musician Fred Costello, who has served as Rochester’s ballpark organist for more than four decades.

Architecturally, the ballpark attempts – on a small scale, but at least there’s effort – to blend in with its environment. Incorporated into the stadium’s footprint in the left field corner is a historic former firehouse, now serving as the team’s administrative offices and storage. Otherwise, it’s an overall bland facility; while it gets the job done, nothing about the park truly stands out. The outfield is inaccessible to fans too, meaning the concourse frustratingly doesn’t extend all the way around the park. But its views of the Rochester skyline, including a looming Kodak Tower on the third base side, are certainly a nice feature.

Though their home has some room for improvement, the Red Wings and the legacy they’ve built in Rochester will stand the test of time. There’s definitely no doubt that the team will remain in The Flour City for many more amazing seasons to come.