Home of the B-Mets

Looking up outside Binghamton’s Municipal Stadium, Jul-2001.

There are fewer luxury boxes here than usual, a refreshing sight.

The park looks out over a rail yard as well as hills that shape the junction of I-81 and NY 17.

Chronological Tour: Stop 50

• Location: Henry and Fayette streets, Binghamton, N.Y. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1992 as Binghamton Municipal Stadium
• Additional names: NYSEG Stadium (2001), Mirabito Stadium (2021)
• Home team: Binghamton Mets (1992-2016), Rumble Ponies (2017-present), Eastern League
• Capacity: 6,012

Rating: 3 baseballs

In 1991, the New York Mets swapped affiliates with the Houston Astros, with the Astros taking over the Jackson (Miss.) Generals and the Mets getting the Williamsport Bills. After one season, the Mets moved to this new facility in 1992, and their Eastern League club promptly won the league championship, endearing themselves to local fans.

Since then, however, ennui seems to have set in. Perhaps it’s the normal phase that teams go through once the novelty wears off, but the B-Mets have not drawn nearly as well in recent seasons as they did when they first arrived. One rumor had the B-Mets being relocated to Ottawa, Ont. for the 2014 season, with the Batavia club in the New York-Penn League moving here. However, Ottawa attracted an independent ball club in 2015. A new owner for 2016 assured that the team would stay in Binghamton for a while; for 2017, the club has been rebranded as the Rumble Ponies, an homage to carousels that were placed throughout the Triple Cities in the first half of the 20th century and are still in service.

One of the most notable things about the park is the relative lack of luxury boxes. While most parks built in the 1990s have quite a few boxes, there are only six here at Binghamton.

Prior to the 2001 season, New York State Electric & Gas slapped its name on the park (for a fee, of course), making this NYSEG Stadium. The naming sponsor as of 2021, Mirabito, is a local energy company. The park has also been used for football, as the semi-pro B.C. Jets played here for a season and a local private high school played several years here.