Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park

• Name: Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park
• GPS-able Address: 360 Fishburne St., Charleston, SC 29403
• Ballpark Owner: City of Charleston
• Architects: HOK Sport (now Populous); Goff D'Antonio Associates
• Groundbreaking: 6/7/1996
• Minor League Baseball Teams: Charleston RiverDogs (A) 1997-present
• Class/League History: A/Carolina League 2022-present; A/Low-A East 2021; A/South Atlantic League 1997-2020
• First Professional Baseball Game: 4/7/1997; stadium debut of Class A RiverDogs
• Others Playing or Operating Here: Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame
• Previous Ballpark Names: None
• LF: 305 CF: 398 RF: 337
• Seats: 5,317
• Stated Capacity: 8,500
• House Baseball/Softball Record Attendance (as currently configured): 8,426, 4/5/2007

Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, SC, is the home of the Charleston RiverDogs, the Tampa Bay Rays' Low-A Carolina League farm team. Its name honoree, Joe Riley, not only got the ballpark built but led the city from 1975 to 2016 - among U.S. history's longest-serving mayors.

Opened in 1997, its first baseball game was actually a collegiate one. The stadium was built as the joint baseball home of the RiverDogs and The Citadel Bulldogs. The Citadel played its first game April 6, 1997, and the RiverDogs opened their season there the next day.

"The Joe" first topped 300,000 in season attendance in 2017 - thanks largely to a visiting fan magnet and that year's total solar eclipse. The blackout drew 5,274, while Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow's three weekend dates averaged 7,048. Attendance stayed above the 300K benchmark without those factors in 2018, but the house single-game record remains the 8,426 at their 2007 home opener. That mark was most threatened later in the 2005-2020 Yankees era: Alex Rodriguez and Eduardo Nunez played two games together during their 2013 rehabilitations, but their top crowd was 8,255.

The ballpark also hosts the annual Legends in the South softball game of retired big-leaguers. Begun while the 'Dogs were a New York Yankees' affiliate, the first four editions featured retirees from the Yanks against alumni of the South's first team, the Atlanta Braves. After the Coronavirus pandemic killed the 2020 minor league season and with MLB's Minor League Reorganization moving Charleston back to the Rays, the game resumed in 2021 with the format now former Braves vs. a combined team of Yankees and Rays retirees. A 2022 Legends event on the team's "Upcoming Events" page didn't happen, reportedly per MLB, but the event returned in 2023. Although players included Yankee and Brave alumni, those affiliations were not factors as the players were simply divided between Team Charleston and Team RiverDogs.

MLB's reorganization greatly expanded existing standards for stadiums hosting affiliated teams. On September 13, 2022, Charleston City Council voted to cover half the nearly $300,000 cost of meeting those at The Joe.