Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium

From BR Bullpen

Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville, AL, was the home of Huntsville affiliated baseball from 1985 into 2015, ending the tenure as Joe W. Davis Municipal Stadium. During the final season, the former Huntsville Stars of the Double-A Southern League began playing in a new ballpark in Biloxi, MS.

Their twice-delayed exit followed the Stars making the 2014 playoffs and construction delays that forced the 2015 Biloxi Shuckers back to "The Joe" for 15 of their first 25 home games with the other 10 at their opponents' playpens. Just 224 fans attended the 2,226th and last professional baseball game played at The Joe.

Named for the mayor whose administration built it, the ballpark had faded from being the "Crown Jewel of the Southern League" to the circuit's most dilapidated venue. "Stars" was for Huntsville's aerospace industry and the jazz classic whose title appears on Alabama license plates. The former Nashville Sounds moved into The Joe when the Music City landed Triple-A ball in 1985.

Huntsville cannot host Minor League Baseball for the foreseeable future because the area's territorial rights now belong to the Rocket City Trash Pandas in nearby Madison, AL. The former Mobile BayBears moved into a new ballpark the Huntsville suburb opened in 2020. Meanwhile, The Joe underwent a transformational renovation into a multi-sport venue that was introduced to the public with a ribbon cutting and open house on May 16, 2023. During the renovation, the coming facility attracted a new team in minor league soccer, which played its first home game there three days after the open house. The Huntsville City Football Club, which develops players for - ironically - Nashville SC of Major League Soccer, is the primary tenant and manager of "The New Joe".