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The Hiram Bithorn Municipal Stadium was built in 1962, during the administration of mayor Felisa Rincón de Gautier, to replace the aging Sixto Escobar Baseball Stadium in the Puerta de Tierra area of the Islet of San Juan. It was named after Hiram Bithorn, who played for the Chicago Cubs in 1942 and was the first Puerto Rican to play Major League Baseball.
There was a time when the Hiram Bithorn was the home of both the “Senadores de San Juan” (San Juan Senators) and the “Cangrejeros de Santurce” (Santurce Crabbers) baseball teams during the winter season. But professional baseball is pretty much dead in Puerto Rico, which is very weird because the Double A league is very much alive.
The new major of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, has promised to change that, so baseball fans are eager to hear those famous words “play ball” once again.
The park can seat approximately 18,000 fans. The left and right field lines are 325 feet each, while the center field is 404 feet deep. The fences are 8 feet high.
Many major league teams have played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, including the Montreal Expos, the Phoenix Suns, the Milwakee Bucks, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers. It has also been the host facility for many Baseball Classics, Central American and Pan American Games.
The Hiram Bithorn Stadium has also hosted its share of world class concerts, including: The Byrds, Santana, Jackson Five, Peter Frampton, The Rascals, The Grass Roots, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Men At Work, Sting, The Beach Boys, Poison, Ratt, Toto, Rod Steart, Whitney Houston, Laura Pausini, Billy Joel, Maná, Back Street Boys, Rihanna and many more.
