George H.W. Bush Field (commonly known as Bush Field , originally Yale Field ) is a stadium in West Haven, Connecticut , just across the city line with New Haven, Connecticut . It is primarily used for the Yale University baseball team, the Bulldogs, and, until 2007 was also the home field of the New Haven County Cutters Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball minor league baseball team. Yale's baseball team has played continuously at the same site since 1885 while the field was constructed and opened in April 1928.
22-459: The seats at Bush Field are a mix of standard plastic stadium seats and metal bleachers. The scoreboard is hand operated and the stadium capacity has been reduced from a high of 12,000 to its current 6,200. Bush Field is not located on the school’s campus in downtown New Haven, but about a mile and a half away in neighboring West Haven. Also located at the sports complex is the Yale Bowl , Reese Stadium,
44-499: A June 14, 1980, show featuring the Eagles , Heart , and The Little River Band . A picture from the show was published with the vinyl edition of the Eagles double live album, issued later that year, though no recordings from the event are included on the discs. A Paul McCartney concert was scheduled for June 1990, but cancelled amid neighbors' opposition; the show was moved to Chicago . The stadium has hosted many soccer matches over
66-473: A half million dollars to build. Yale Field was also the name of the football stadium prior to the Yale Bowl opening in 1914. In a 1941 game, with Smoky Joe Wood as manager, and Joe Jr. on the mound, the Bulldogs faced Colgate whose roster included two of Smoky Joe's other sons, Steve and Bob Wood. Yale prevailed 11–5. During President George H.W. Bush 's days playing baseball for Yale, the team played in both
88-483: A qualifying game for the College World Series, Ron Darling from Yale and Frank Viola from St. Johns dueled through 11 scoreless innings before St. Johns broke through with a run in the 12th inning to win 1–0. Both pitchers went on to have distinguished Major League careers. Darling pitched 11 innings of no-hit ball (still a college playoff record) before surrendering a single in the 12th inning. In attendance at
110-514: The Jets and baseball Mets , then moved into new Giants Stadium in 1976 . Ground was broken on the stadium in August 1913. Fill excavated from the field area was used to build up a berm around the perimeter to create an elliptical bowl. The facade was designed to partially echo the campus's Neo-Gothic design, and, as with some central campus buildings, acid was applied to imitate the effects of aging. It
132-626: The National Football League (NFL) won just one of the dozen home games they played in New Haven in the 1973 and 1974 seasons. (With the exception of the games played with replacement teams during the 1987 NFL strike and the COVID-19 -disrupted 2020 season , the attendance at the final game at the Yale Bowl is the smallest at a Giants' home game since 1955.) The team also played preseason games in
154-804: The National Football League . The Giants finished in last place in the National Football Conference East Division with a 2–12 record, the team's worst since 1966 . The Giants’ home venue in 1974 was the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut , and they were winless at home in seven games. They won only one of twelve games at the Yale Bowl in 1973 and 1974. The Giants played at Shea Stadium in Queens in 1975 and opened Giants Stadium in New Jersey in October 1976 . The 1974 Giants hold
176-534: The 1947 and 1948 College World Series, losing to the University of California in 1947 and to USC in 1948. Yale's manager during this time was former big leaguer Ethan Allen. Yale Field hosted what is believed to be the first game of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 1947 when Yale hosted Clemson. Yale Field was the site for one of the most famous college baseball games of all time. On May 21, 1981, during
198-530: The Bulldogs lose 36–0 to rival Harvard . In 1958, a new scoreboard was installed; its distinctive clock was arranged vertically instead of horizontally. During the 1970s, the Bowl hosted several concerts. In 1971, Yes performed on July 24 and the Grateful Dead on July 31, a recording of which was released as Road Trips Volume 1 Number 3 . But neighborhood opposition to the concerts brought them to an end after
220-530: The Coxe Cage and the Connecticut Tennis Center. Yale University fielded their first baseball team in 1864. The team played at various sites around campus until 1882, when the university purchased an apple orchard and farm in neighboring West Haven and built a modest ball field on the site. In 1927 the school replaced the open field surrounded by few bleachers with a concrete and steel structure that cost
242-522: The Mound", published by Alfred A. Knoff, a division of Random House. On July 8, 1998, the ballpark hosted the Double-A All-Star Game in which a team of National League -affiliated All-Stars defeated a team of American League -affiliated All-Stars, 2–1, before 6,248 people in attendance. In 2021, Yale Field was renamed George H.W. Bush Field in honor of President George H.W. Bush, who captained
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#1732855217863264-593: The Smilow Field Center and walk 200 yards (185 m) to the field. When the NFL's Giants played at the stadium (1973, 1974), the pro players disliked the arrangement, but Yale players reportedly enjoy the walk. Fans cheer for the team as it marches to the stadium while the Yale Band plays, a tradition known as the "Bulldog Walk." The Bowl's first game, on November 21, 1914 , drew more than 68,000 spectators, who watched
286-548: The annual ATP / WTA event (the Pilot Pen tournament), across Yale Avenue from the stadium. On October 5, 2001, the closing ceremony of the Yale Tercentennial was held at the Yale Bowl. Guests included Tom Wolfe '57, William F. Buckley '50, Sesame Street ' s Big Bird , Paul Simon '96 Hon, and Garry Trudeau '70. By the 21st century, many of the outside retaining walls and portal entries were deteriorating. In
308-560: The distinction of being the first team to lose a regular season game in overtime. In week nine, the 2–6 Giants welcomed the cross-town rival Jets to the Yale Bowl. With the Giants leading 20–13 in the fourth quarter, Joe Namath faked a handoff to Emerson Boozer , then ran into the end zone for a touchdown which tied the score at 20–20, forcing overtime; previously, a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos had ended in
330-565: The game was Yale President and soon-to-be Commissioner of Baseball, A. Bartlett Giamatti as well as pitching great and ex-Yale Baseball Coach, Smoky Joe Wood . Renowned baseball author Roger Angell was also at the game and wrote an article about the game for the New Yorker Magazine, entitled "The Web of the Game" Ron Darling devoted an entire chapter to this game in his 2009 book; "The Complete Game, Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on
352-622: The second largest FCS stadium, behind Tennessee State's Nissan Stadium . The Yale Bowl inspired the design and naming of the Rose Bowl , from which is derived the name of college football's post-season games ( bowl games ) and the NFL 's Super Bowl . In 1973 and 1974 , the stadium hosted the New York Giants of the National Football League , as Yankee Stadium was renovated into a baseball-only venue. The Giants shared Shea Stadium in 1975 with
374-461: The spring and summer of 2006, the bowl received a partial renovation, including a new scoreboard. The work was completed just in time for the first home game of the Yale football team's season on September 16. The annual game between Yale and its rival Harvard , known locally as The Game , is held at the Yale Bowl every other year. In 2023, its attendance was over 51,000. The New York Giants of
396-516: The stadium more than three-quarters empty. However, the Bi's could only draw a total of 57,438—less than the Bowl's capacity for a single game—in their other 21 home games combined , an average of only 2,735 per contest. After the 1977 season, the club relocated to become the Oakland Stompers . 1974 New York Giants season The 1974 New York Giants season was the franchise's 50th season in
418-529: The stadium, including the first-ever game against future rival and stadium share partner, the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets , a Sunday afternoon sellout in mid-August 1969 . The Connecticut Bicentennials of the NASL played two seasons at the Yale Bowl, mostly in front of dismal crowds. Even their highest-ever home attendance, against the New York Cosmos in 1977, drew only 17,302 fans, leaving
440-596: The team during his senior year. Yale Bowl Former capacity : The Yale Bowl Stadium is a college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in New Haven, Connecticut , on the border of West Haven , about 1½ miles (2½ km) west of the main campus of Yale University . The home of the Yale Bulldogs of the Ivy League , it opened 110 years ago in 1914 with 70,896 seats ; renovations have reduced its current capacity to 61,446, still making it
462-804: The years; it served as home field for the Connecticut Bicentennials of the North American Soccer League during the 1976 and 1977 seasons. Yale Bowl was mulled as a possible playing site when the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994 , but lost out to Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts and Giants Stadium in New Jersey . In 1991, the Bowl's vicinity saw the addition of the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center , home to
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#1732855217863484-522: Was the first bowl-shaped stadium in the country, and inspired the design of such stadiums as the Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , and Michigan Stadium . It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 for its role in football history . The Yale Bowl's designer, Charles A. Ferry, for unknown reasons chose not to include locker rooms (or restrooms). Players dress in
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