The Hangar

The Hangar in Lancaster, CA, was the home of Lancaster affiliated baseball from 1996 through 2019. After that and the Coronavirus pandemic-canceled 2020 season, MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization eliminated the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League.

The stadium is known for its high winds which blow toward the outfield and inflate batting averages and home run totals, which was largely responsible for its team losing its place in the reorganization. In 2011, it became professional baseball's first solar stadium, with 98% of its energy needs covered by solar panels installed above the parking lot.

Ballpark icon HOK Sport (now Populous) designed it. Opened as Lancaster Municipal Stadium in 1996 in Dodgers/Angels territory, it never hosted an LA affiliate. In 2005, the city and the 'Hawks jointly sold naming rights to Clear Channel Communications to promote its local radio operation. When that deal ended in 2012, the name technically reverted to LMS but the team started calling it "The Hangar" - a longtime nickname derived from "JetHawks". The municipal website still refers to its ballpark as Lancaster Municipal Stadium but the city but did not prevent the team from putting up "Hangar" signage. Even the JetHawks' dissolution has not closed out the Hangar name.

In 2018, The Hangar hosted what many believe was a professional baseball first: Gio Brusa and Jalen Miller of the visiting San Jose Giants both hit for the cycle in the same April 11th game. The feat was repeated later that season by a pair of Indianapolis Indians who took it to the next level by completing it in not only the same game but the same inning. Neither feat has been accomplished in the Majors.

The Trace Adkins country music video "Swing" is among several media productions shot in the stadium, and a JetHawks cap is among five Cali League ones that become clues to solving a murder in TV's Life (2007-2009).

The University of Antelope Valley also played its home games at The Hangar before the school ceased operations in 2024.

The Lancaster Sound Breakers of the Pecos League were planning to play at The Hangar in 2023 before the city of Lancaster leased the stadium to a soccer club, leaving the Sound Breakers to fold because they lacked a stadium.

Related Sites

• Article from USA Today