Riverfront Stadium, new this season as home of the Wichita Wind Surge (Double-A Central) opened with a large crowd for a Wichita State/Houston college game.
The crowd: 7,509, billed as the seventh-largest crowd for a Shockers game. Riverfront Stadium was originally slated to open for the 2020 Minor League Baseball season, but encountered a rough year: the campaign was canceled, team owner and founder Lou Schwechheimer passed away due to COVID-19 complications, and Wind Surge were shifted from Triple-A to Double-A. From The Wichita Eagle:
“All of this started with the dream of Lou Schwechheimer and we’re just so thrilled that today we finally got to see his dream come to life,” Wind Surge general manager Jared Forma said. “In Lou’s words, the magic starts today.”…
For Wichita baseball fans used to walking up to the outdated entrance of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, the difference in arrival to the new Delano District stadium was stunning in comparison.
“For those of us who lived through and experienced the days at Lawrence-Dumont, it’s just exciting to walk up to a stadium that is state of the art,” said Wichita native Sergio Roman. “And then you go inside, and whether it’s the concourse or the amenities or the restrooms or the concessions, it really is amazing. I know I can bring my family here and have a good time.”
So the large crowd is great news for a team without a lot of good news in 2020.
Photo courtesy Wichita Wind Surge via Twitter.
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