A PLACE IN TIME
Clinton ’ s baseball stadium as it looks today .
Riverview Stadium began accepting corporate sponsors in 2003 , beginning with Alliant Energy in 2003 . The stadium was renovated to hold 4,000 fans . In 2011 , the field was named for Ashford University and in 2019 , for NelsonCorp . The field is 330 feet in left field , 401 in center and 325 down the right line .
More than 250 players have made the move from Clinton to the big leagues , according to Minor League Baseball .
Famed Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser was drafted by the team in 1979 and was sent to its Class A farm team , the Clinton Dodgers . He started four games , appeared in 11 more and finished with a 4-0 record and 2.09 earned run average . Hershiser was a three-time All-Star . He helped the Dodgers win the 1988 World Series and was named National League Most Valuable Player and World Series MVP . He won the Cy Young Award and the National League Gold Glove .
Jim Leyland coached the Clinton Pilots before leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to Division titles in 1990 , 1991 and 1992 and winning a World Series Championship with the Florida Marlins in 1997 . Leyland signed with the Tigers as a catcher in 1963 and spent seven seasons with the organization in its minor leagues . In 1972 , Leyland became manager of the Clinton Pilots in the Midwest League before becoming manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-1996 , claiming two Managerof-the-Year trophies .
Dodges Steve Sax , Mickey Hatcher and Mike Sciascia , the Milwaukee Brewers ’ Darrell Porter and the Expos ’ Roy Corcoran all played for Clinton ’ s minor league team .
North of town , on the former estate of the Joyce family , WPA workers renovated a lodge and built an observation tower , two stone bridges , a recirculating waterfall and a stone staircase down the bluff .
Eagle Point Park is 164 acres of land overlooking the Mississippi River and Lock and Dam 13 on the Illinois
6 Clinton Magazine Spring 2022