PNC Field

• Name: PNC Field
• GPS-able Address: 235 Montage Mountain Road, Moosic, PA 18507
• Ballpark Owner: Lackawanna County
• Architect(s): EwingCole
• Groundbreaking: 4/27/2012
• Minor League Baseball Team: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (AAA) 2013-present
• Class/League of MiLB Tenant(s): AAA/International League 2022-present; AAA/Triple-A East 2021; AAA/International League 2013-2020
• First Pro Baseball Game: 4/4/2013; stadium debut of Class AAA RailRiders
• Others Playing or Operating Here: None
• Previous Ballpark Names: None
• LF: 326 CF: 408 RF: 330
• Seats: 6,700
• Stated Capacity: 10,000
• House Baseball/Softball Record Attendance (as currently configured): 11,515, 4/10/2017

The Stadium

PNC Field in Moosic, PA, is the home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the New York Yankees' Triple-A International League farm team. It was also the Yanks' 2020 Coronavirus pandemic alternate training site.

Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium opened in 1989 as home to a Philadelphia Phillies' affiliate called the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. For baseball games, its playing field originally had the same dimensions as the Phillies' Veterans Stadium. The Phillies believed having their top prospects playing in a similar ballpark would help them better adjust to the big leagues when they were called up - an idea now in play in several other farm systems including the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The year 2007 brought two major changes: natural grass replaced the original artificial turf, and a naming contract made its moniker PNC Field.

"The Lack" became a relic when, 16 years after it opened, the Phillies moved into a new ballpark and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise affiliated with the Yankees - who in fact purchased a half-interest in the club. PNC Park was probably the last of the cookie-cutter stadiums, which dominated Major League Baseball in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to minor league baseball, amateur events that have taken place there included: high school, college and semi-pro football; high school soccer and field hockey; and both professional and high school band competitions. The parking lot of the stadium has also been used for events such as 3-on-3 basketball, flea markets, car shows and craft shows.

PNC was rebuilt in 2012, so thoroughly that the team played its entire season on the road as the Empire State Yankees. The project was originally billed as a renovation, but the facility was deconstructed to the seating bowl and called "brand new" at the "open house" that introduced it. The result is a 21st-century stadium with a family-friendly environment that also has bars and restaurants in the bleacher areas with views of the games. A walkway all the way around the field allows fans to see it from all angles. The stadium is in the Pocono Mountains, which provide its most distinguishing feature: the rock face beyond the outfield fence and a mountain beyond center field with a hotel and restaurant visible on top.

The ballpark made national news on the third day of its new life, April 6, 2013, when fireworks set off after a game started a wildfire in a wooded area behind the outfield fence.

The Lack hosted the 1995 Triple-A All-Star Game and PNC was scheduled to do so again in 2020, but the game was lost to the pandemic. It narrowly missed becoming the first venue to host its own team in a Triple-A Baseball National Championship - in a way, twice. The event, which is played at pre-determined and so theoretically neutral sites, was scheduled at PNC in 2017; ironically, the 'Riders won the 2016 game, thus missing being both participant and host by just a year. They did make the 2017 playoffs but missed getting into the title game by one playoff series.

PNC was the scene of a notable if not record feat on April 16, 2023: infielder Andres Chaparro had an 18-pitch at-bat keyed by 12 consecutive fouls. Such records are at best unreliable in the minors, and in this case even in the Majors - research turns up a 2021 at-bat that was called a record at 21 pitches[1] - even though another source yields a 1999 AB that was reported as 22[2].

PNC Field is not to be confused with PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA, although the two ballparks share their corporate sponsor.