Bradner Stadium

Bradner Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Olean, New York. The stadium, which can accommodate both baseball and football, served as home to minor-league baseball teams including the Olean Oilers and Olean Yankees. The stadium was built in 1926 and was substantially renovated in 2013.[1] It holds 4,000 people and primarily serves as the home stadium of the NYCBL Olean Oilers collegiate baseball team for over 20 summer games as well as the Olean High School and Archbishop Walsh football teams in the fall. The stadium accommodates several community events as well.

During the stadium's original baseball years, the field became notorious for its poor drainage and its configuration that had batters facing blinding sunlight when a game was played near sunset (the stadium lacked a batter's eye), which forced baseball games to be suspended until the sun set below the horizon. The stadium's baseball configuration was removed in the 1970s in what was then a successful effort to improve the drainage in the stadium, and when the stadium was again reconfigured for baseball decades later, the diamond was reoriented to avoid the "sun breaks."[2]

In 2009, the semi-professional Southern Tier Diesel of the Northeastern Football Alliance relocated from Wayland to begin play at the stadium.[3] The Diesel were evicted after the 2015 season, with the mayor of Olean saying that the team had damaged the playing field during a game in the 2015 season that was played in a rainstorm.[4] The Diesel were able to negotiate a compromise before the 2016 season that limits their home appearances to one game per month during baseball season.[5] A revived Olean Oilers, this version a member of the New York Collegiate Baseball League, took up residence at the stadium in 2013.

The naming rights to the stadium have long been held by Bradner's, a local department store. The store shut down in 2014.[6]

Notable events

In 1947, Hall-of-Fame player Jackie Robinson played at Bradner with the Brooklyn Dodgers.[7][8]

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References
  1. Chapman, Chris (May 12, 2014). Bradner Stadium makeover almost complete, field house is next. The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  2. http://www.oleantimesherald.com/sports/article_5bdb0c7c-2390-11e5-ae50-67d557d2d7eb.html
  3. "Semi-pro football coming to Olean". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. Boudin, Kelsey (December 13, 2015). "Summer sports at Bradner limited to baseball". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  5. Boudin, Kelsey (January 7, 2016). "Oilers and Diesel to keep sharing revamped venue". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  6. Donahue, Tom (August 25, 2014). Bradner’s closing last chapter in storybook. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  7. "Bradner Stadium Part II of III: Local pride gushed with Dodgers farm club". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  8. Archived May 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine


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