Danville Stadium
80 Years of Baseball History
It all began in 1945. Robert“ Kish” Bookwalter, a local attorney and entrepreneur, led a group of Danville businessmen to convince Branch Rickey to build a stadium for a Dodgers farm team in Danville. The stadium was to be located at Highland Boulevard and 9th street, and is estimated to have cost $ 60,000 to build.
Construction took place during late 1945 and early 1946. With time running out to get the stadium done, more than 200 men came together to construct and paint the outfield fence on Sunday, April 14, 1946.
Thanks to their efforts, the first game played in Danville Stadium history was on May 8, 1946 – a 2-1 win by the Danville Dodgers over the Springfield Brownies. Some of the players on the Dodgers roster in 1946 included Carl Erskine, Toby Atwell, Walt“ Moose” Moryn, Cal Abrams, Preston Ward, and Bob Millikin.
Prior to the game, the ballpark needed a name. Danville High School senior Chris Langas presented the winning submission in a name the park contest. His suggestion was, of course, Danville Stadium,“... because it is a park for the people and by the people.”
Here are some other special dates in Danville Stadium history...
1947: The Brooklyn Dodgers weren’ t the only team to play an exhibition game at the Stadium that season. The Harlem Globetrotters played a game on a court set up on the Stadium’ s infield grass. More than 5,000 filled temporary bleachers lining the court.
1954: Danville Stadium became home to two teams. In addition to the Giants minor league team( called the Dans), Andy Cohen and his independent Danville Boosters begin a 19-year partnership with the new Stadium.
For the next 17 years, the Stadium would not host a team with MLB affiliation. That changed in 1971 when the Danville Warriors became a Milwaukee Brewers farm team in their second season.
July 7, 1961: Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League play an exhibition game against the Danville Boosters. On his 55th birthday, Paige pitched three scoreless innings in relief, striking out four in
Danville Stadium as it appeared in 1946. a row at one point.
16 2026 DANVILLE DANS Official Program