The Indianapolis Indians

Detail: Perhaps the most significant change in Indians history came in 1996 when the team moved downtown to a new ballpark. Taking a name from the past, Victory Field, an $18 million project on the west side of downtown and part of White River State Park, opened on July 11, 1996 as the Tribe hosted Oklahoma City. The open-air facility features 13,500 permanent seats and a lawn berm around the outfield which can seat up to 2,000 additional fans. The park also features 29 luxury suites. The ballpark was designed by the same architectural firm that designed Baltimore's Camden Yards and Cleveland's Jacob's Field.

The opening of Victory Field took the Indianapolis Indians to a new level. Attendance nearly doubled with more than 600,000 fans coming to the ballpark in each of the first five full seasons. In January 1999, Baseball America dubbed Victory Field 'the best minor league ballpark in America." Those accolades were reinforced in 2001 by Sports Illustrated and minorleaguenews.com.

The national commendations and record attendance marks earned the Indians a share of the national spotlight. On July 11, 2001 representatives from all 30 Triple-A teams came to Indianapolis, and a national TV audience watched on ESPN2, as the Triple-A All-Star Game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 15,868.

The Indians have provided affordable, family fun for over 100 years to the citizens of central Indiana. In that time, nine players enjoyed enough success at the Major League level to warrant induction into baseball's Hall of Fame. Those players are: Grover Cleveland Alexander, Luke Appling, Charles Hartnett, Harmon Killebrew, Napoleon Lajoie, Al Lopez, Rube Marquard, Joseph McCarthy, Bill McKechnie, Raymond Schalk and Bob Uecker.

The next budding superstar could be playing at Victory Field this summer.