Tonight our game was at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, home of the Wichita Wranglers. Originally built in 1934, it has undergone some major renovations. The playing field has a very unique look—the infield is made out of turf but the outfield is grass. It’s kind of an odd combination. The stadium is also home to the National Baseball Congress, which is an organization of 15 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada that has played here since 1935.

Unfortunately for fans of the Wranglers, they will be moving out of Wichita at the end of this year and moving down to Arkansas for the start of the 2008 season. The team’s new name will be the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Apparently the Wranglers do not draw very well in attendance and Lawrence-Dumont Stadium is not packed very often, so the team is switching up locations to try to expand their fan base.

One other note: I was a bit disappointed to see this sign on the gates before entering the ballpark. Prohibiting such things takes the fun out of baseball.