Cardines Field

Baseball stadium in Rhode Island, US
The Basin Field ballpark was later renamed for Bernardo Cardines, a Newport baseball player who was Newport's first citizen to die in World War I. Today, the ballpark continues to be the home of the historic Sunset League, as well as the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Built for unofficial sandlot baseball games by railroad workers from the adjacent Old Colony Division of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Line, the field hosted many barnstorming all stars, including Negro league teams like the Baltimore Elite Giants, Boston Royal Giants and the New York Black Yankees. Satchel Paige once played at Cardines. The original backstop dates back to as early as 1908, when the city organized its first six team league at the park. Cardines Field is a smaller cousin of other notable ballparks of that era, such as Ebbets Field, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, with a stone facade and wooden bleachers with unique outfield angles. The exterior's elliptical arches reflect the facade of the original Yankee Stadium.

Renovation work began in 2000 with funds from a matching $500,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Management and the formation of the Friends of Cardines Field Foundation. In recent years, the grandstands, concession operation, and bathrooms have been renovated as part of the project, along with the addition of a state of the art field lighting system. The winter of 2005 2006 saw the entire outfield and infield replaced among other improvements, including the addition of a fully functional drainage system and new outfield fence, all at the cost of an additional half million dollars. The Newport Gulls also have necessitated the expansion of concession equipment, in addition to the renovation of a team office, storage rooms, souvenir stand, ticket booth, scoreboard, and public address system, much of which has been covered by the ongoing restoration project led by the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the Gulls former ownership, and Roger Williams University Professor Jeffery Staats. The most recent improvements have been to upgrade the stadium's broadcasting abilities, with the addition of high speed Internet and phone lines, camera positions, and a control room below the pressbox for use by the Tigers TV Crew, the volunteer production crew who work with the Gulls to produce games. The park today has changed drastically in upkeep and appearance from that of the recent past. As early as a decade ago, some in the city of Newport had proposed for a then dilapidated Cardines Field to be demolished in order to expand parking in the cramped downtown area, a mere block in each direction from the waterfront to the West, commercial and tourist center to the South, and world famous historical district to the East. Future projects at Cardines include: concluding outfield fence replacement via a state grant, widening and lengthening of the hockey style side by side dugouts, the additions of a locker room and an umpire's room, and further restoration of bleachers, framework, trim, and other facets. The removal of a large, rundown private warehouse which makes up the right field foul line has been discussed for some time, though no official plans have been announced.