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O'Brien Field Logo
O'BRIEN FIELD HISTORY
The Facility
  • Designed by HNTB – Other HNTB facilities include, Dayton’s Fifth Third Field, Lansing’s Oldsmobile Park
  • Catered by WellBread Catering – Other facilities catered by WellBread include, Busch Stadium, Comiskey Park, Jacobs Field, Miller Park, and many other sports facilities across the country
  • General Contractor – River City Construction
  • Facility covers area of 2 square city blocks
  • Wrought iron fencing surrounds the facility
  • Handicap access to field along both baselines
  • Tunnels between dugouts and locker rooms
  • Will be utilized for special events, concerts and family-oriented entertainment.

    The View

  • Jefferson – View of seating bowl, suite levels and most of playing field
  • ; Adams – Outside façade and outfield picnic plaza
  • Seats – Grand view of downtown Peoria, some will be able to view the river from Suite level

    The Suites

  • Suites can be used as meeting rooms for businesses
  • Closed circuit televisions
  • 12 outdoor seats
  • High-quality dining experience

    Additional Information

  • Parking for the facility: There are 3,300 spaces, including 500 street-side parking spaces within a 5-block area.
  • $23 million project, $16 million privately financed facility owned and operated by Peoria Chiefs Community Baseball LLC.

    The Team

  • In the first year of O’Brien Field, the Peoria Chiefs won a franchise record 85 games and had the best home record in team history with a 47-24 mark in the regular season.
  • The Chiefs won their first ever first-half championship and then won their first ever Midwest League Championship with a 7-1 (4-0 home) march through the playoffs.
  • Heading into 2008 the Chiefs are 218-181 (.546) all-time at O'Brien Field in the regular season and 6-1 in the post-season.
  • There have been 31 sell outs (9 in 2002, 5 in 2003, 1 in 2004, 7 in 2005, 3 in 2006 & 6 in 2007) with an all-time Chiefs record crowd of 9,602 on July 28, 2005
  • The Chiefs set an All-Time Single-Season Franchise record for Attendance and Average Attendance in 2007 with 259,928 total fans at 68 openings for an average of 3,822 per game. The previous record had been 256,612 in 2005 with an average of 3,773.

    • Stadium Firsts

  • 1st Fans in Stadium: The Johnson Family (Chiefs pitcher Tyler Johnson’s family) of Thousand Oaks, CA at 2:03 PM Friday May 24, 2002
  • 1st Beer: Bought by Greg Sholty at 2:10 PM 5/24/02
  • 1st Batting Practice Home Run: Chiefs Catcher Clint Chauncey (2nd batter) down left-field line 5/24/02
  • 1st Ceremonial First Pitches: State Rep. Dave Leitch, caterpillar executive Rich Lavin, Peoria Mayor Dave Ransburg, auto dealer Joe O’Brien, and Peoria’s Mr. Baseball Pete Vonachen.
  • 1st Pitch: 7:00 pm Friday, May 24, 2002. Called strike thrown by Mike Wodnicki
  • 1st Hit: Cougar’s 2B Hunter Wyant single to CF 5/24/02
  • 1st Chiefs hit: 2B Shaun Boyd infield single leading off first inning 5/24/02
  • 1st Extra Base Hit: Chiefs’ Yadier Molina double in 5th 5/24/02
  • 1st run: Molina in 5th 5/24/02
  • 1st RBI: Chiefs’ John Nelson RBI double in 5th 5/24/02
  • 1st reliever: St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Steve Kline 5/24/02
  • 1st 7th inning stretch: Dutchie Caray (Harry’s widow) 8:36 pm 5/24/02
  • 1st Win: Chiefs Mike Wodnicki (Peoria 3, Kane County 0) 5/24/02
  • 1st Team Shutout: 5/24/02 Peoria 3, Kane County 0
  • 1st Save: Chiefs Jared Blasdell 5/24/02
  • 1st Home Run: Chiefs Tim Lemon 1st inning Game 1 on 5/26/02
  • 1st Stolen Base: Kane County’s Clinton Frazier 5/25/02
  • 1st Grand Slam: Tim Lemon 5/27/02
  • 1st lead-off Home Run (Chiefs Bottom 1st): Shaun Boyd 5/27/02 vs. Kane County
  • 1st Home Run onto Jefferson St. (LF): Lemon 5/27/02 vs. Kane County
  • 1st Home Run onto Adams St. (RF): Jesse Roman 6/6/02 vs. Dayton
  • 1st Home Run off Batter’s Eye (CF): Gabe Johnson 8/1/02 vs. Cedar Rapids
  • 1st Game Winning Home Run (Chiefs): Tim Lemon 8th inning 7/10/02 vs. Wisconsin
  • 1st Grand Slam: Ricardo Cordova 8/1/02 vs. Cedar Rapids
  • 1st Multi-Homer game (Chiefs): Gabe Johnson 6/9/02 vs. Wisconsin
  • 1st One-Hitter: Aaron Russelburg, Joe Rogers & Jared Blasdell vs. Clinton 7/20/02
  • 1st Playoff Game: September 4, 2002 vs. Burlington
  • 1st Playoff Win: Joe Rogers (Peoria 3, Burlington 2) 9/4/02
  • 1st Playoff Home Run: Chris Duncan 9/4/02 vs. Burlington (12th Inning)
  • 1st Walk-off Home Run: Chris Duncan 9/4/02 vs. Burlington (12th Inning)
  • 1st double header: 5/26/02 vs. Kane County; Chiefs win both games 4-2 & 5-3
  • 1st extra-inning game: 6/6/02 vs. Dayton; Chiefs win 3-2 in 11 inning
  • 1st inside the park homer: Chase Voshell 4/26/03 vs. Clinton
  • 1st One-Hitter: 5/1/05 vs. Kane County (1-0 Win)
  • 1st Triple Play: 7/28/05 vs. Dayton (Jesse Schmidt, Eric Patterson, Joe Simokaitis & Drew Larsen)