Robert C. Wynn Field, Bradenton, Fla.

Robert C. Wynn Field

A look at the seating bowl at Robert C. Wynn Field, Sep-2009.

The view from somewhere near home plate, just outside the fence.

Quick Facts:

Location: Manatee Community College (now State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota), 34 Street West at 57 Avenue, Bradenton, Fla.
Opened: 1959 as Manatee Junior College Field
Additional names: Robert C. Wynn Field (1977)
Home team: Bradenton Juice, South Coast League (2007); State College of Florida Manatees (formerly Manatee Community College Lancers), Florida Community College Activities Association
Capacity: 500 (approx.)

Like many of the junior colleges in Florida, Manatee Community College in Bradenton (which also serves Sarasota County; the school changed its name in July 2009 to recognize that and also acknowledge the fact that it now offers a limited number of bachelor’s degree programs) has a long and successful history at baseball. More than a score of Lancers have gone on to play Major League Baseball.

For one season, Robert C. Wynn Field, named in 1977 after the school’s head coach, also hosted professional baseball in the form of the Bradenton Juice, of the independent South Coast League. The Juice were hamstrung in that the field had limited seating capacity, and the college would not permit alcohol sales or fireworks nights. The club reportedly thought they would get the chance to use McKechnie Field, but the Pittsburgh Pirates squashed that idea in a hurry. As a result, the Juice limped through the South Coast League’s only campaign. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Co. Redfish, playing 60 miles south at Charlotte Co. Stadium, were drawing the best crowds in the league.

I was not able to get into Wynn Field on my 2009 visit.

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