Bleecker Stadium was built as a Federalpublic works project; originally the stadium was the Bleecker Reservoir, which was constructed in 1850. As Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt established a jobs relief program that made the conversion of the reservoir, which had become obsolete, possible; and this led to the creation of between 500 and 1,000 jobs. The stadium opened on Thanksgiving Day 1934. The clubhouse was built in 1940 under the Works Progress Administration, also set up by Roosevelt, who by then was President of the United States. Covering, the stadium was the ninth largest in the entire United States and the second largest on the East Coast behind Philadelphia. It was named for Albany businessman James Edward Bleecker, a member of an old Albany family which produced several mayors and other officials. Serial killerLemuel Smith was brought to Bleecker Stadium in 1977 for an unusual police line-up. Smith and several others were placed behind large plywood sheets scattered around one end of the stadium and a police canine named Crow at the other end sniffed at a priest vestment that Smith had used to wipe himself when defecating after a double-homicide. Crow ran straight across Bleecker Stadium to Smith. In 1981, the stadium was the site of a rugby match between a regional team of Americans against the South African national rugby team, called the Springboks. Governor Hugh Carey tried to block the game from being played as protest against the South African policy of apartheid, and he even brought the issue all the way to the US Supreme Court. MayorErastus Corning 2nd and the Albany Times Union both supported the game being played. Steve Ontiveros, Charlie O'Brien, and Mike Gallego are all Major League Baseball players who once played at Bleecker Stadium. Hall of Fame ballplayer Johnny Evers was appointed the Superintendent of Bleecker Stadium after being in financial straits and ill-health later in life.
Structure
The stadium has an embankment with three visitor entrances cut through it, each is dedicated to veterans of a particular war; the US Civil War, Spanish–American War, and the First World War. Bleecker Stadium seats 7,000 people for football and soccer and 2,000 for baseball.
Teams
The eight teams of the Albany Twilight League, organized in 1930, have played baseball at Bleecker Stadium since 1934. The ATL was the first and is the oldest user of the stadium. The Albany Metro Mallers are a semi-pro football team that played at the stadium, from 1974 to 2011. The Albany Dutchmen is an amateur team of college players that play in the New York Collegiate Baseball League, and has played at Bleecker Stadium since 2009. The varsity football and baseball teams of the City School District of Albany play at the stadium.
