Last weekend, the new ballpark of the Stuttgart Reds was opened with a home series against the Mainz Athletics. Unfortunately for the Reds, the Athletics spoiled their party as they swept the team from Stuttgart. With the ballpark not completely finished, the Dutch Baseball Hangout asked the Reds’ Chris Manske what further construction will happen.
The construction of the ballpark started three years ago and took very long to be finished.
Last year, yours truly attended a game at the ballpark. Despite being far from finished yet, games were still played there.
The Reds have come a long way. Founded in 1989, they played their first games on a football field (European football that is). A major move forward came in 2010, when the Stuttgart Reds, the Heidenheim Heideköpfe, and the Neuenburg Atomics organized the European Championship Baseball. As a result, the field was cleaned up and lighting towers and a scoreboard were installed.
Even though the outside of the ballpark is finished, construction is still going on in the inside of the building. According to Mr. Manske, the grandstand (650 seats) is ready. Also the dressing rooms, showers, toilets and dressing rooms for the umpires are completed. Unfortunately for the fans, the toilets for them are not finished yet. Another important part that has been completed is the material rooms for the various teams of the Reds and for the grounds crew.
One major part of the indoors will be a sports hall, where schools can practice sports and where the various teams of the Reds can train during the winter. But this hall can also be used by other sporting branches of the TV Cannstatt, which is the umbrella of the club. Especially this school part was important for the city of Stuttgart to invest in the ballpark. The hall can also be used as a batting cage. Next to this hall, there is a conference room that can be used for children to make their homework before they attend a training.
The intention is to house the catering at the first floor (European first floor, not American). Also, a cold storage is projected at the first floor, so food and drinks can be kept fresh. Furthermore, a VIP room/ lounge for the home team with a connection to the kitchen will be created on the same floor. This room can be used as a gymnastics room or as a education room. This room can also be rented by companies for seminars and courses, all with the opportunity to use the kitchen. Also in that area, a fan shop and a toilet for the catering crew are projected.
From the first floor of the grand stand, a bridge will run to the softball field, which is located behind the baseball field. In that way, both fields are connected in an easy way.
On top of the aforementioned hall, the board room of the TV Cannstatt (the umbrella) is located next to several meeting rooms. Theoretically, an extra floor could be added on top of the board room. The current first floor and ground floor are connected with an elevator.
Last but not least, the cellar. In this area of the ballpark, the technical part is located: heating for example.
The still ongoing construction has entered its third year already. Until December 2022 the construction was quite on track, but a lack of building materials and workers created a setback. The cost of this ballpark is a sloppy €9.8 million. €7 million has been financed by the city of Stuttgart. The province of Baden-Wuerttemberg has donated about €400,000, and the remaining amount has been paid for by the club itself. Originally, the costs were projected at €6.5 million, but due to steadily rising prices because of the inflation, the costs skyrocketed to the aforementioned €9.8 million.
The Reds are a part of the 1. Basseball Bundesliga since 2012. But until the 2023 season, they were only accepted, as the facilities didn’t meet the demands of the DBV (German Baseball Federation). The former facility lacked toilets, for example. With this ballpark, those problems will belong to the past.
The Reds are hopeful the new ballpark will give baseball in Stuttgart a boost. They may be right, as the new structure looks amazing.
The Dutch Baseball Hangout likes to thank Chris Manske for the much-needed information, which made it possible to write this blog post about this beautiful ballpark.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 
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