Peoples Natural Gas Field is a 7,210-seat baseball-only stadium in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that opened in 1999. It is the home ballpark of the Double-A Eastern League's Altoona Curve Minor League Baseball team.HistoryThe groundbreaking ceremony for the stadium, then known as Blair County Ballpark, was held on March 7, 1998. The addition of Major League Baseball teams in Phoenix, Arizona, and St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1998 also created room for Minor League Baseball to expand. Two additional teams were added to the Eastern League for the 1999 season: the Altoona Curve and the Erie SeaWolves. The city of Altoona won the favor of the Eastern League over a bid from Springfield, Massachusetts. The stadium hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 15, 1999, as the Curve defeated the Bowie Baysox, 6–1.From 1999 to 2002, total seating capacity was listed at 6,176. Prior to the 2003 season, an additional 1,034 seats were created with the construction of the new left-field reserved bleacher section, the third-base picnic pavilion, and the left-field party deck. Blair County Ballpark hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 12, 2006, before a record crowd of 9,308 fans. The largest regular-season crowd was 9,255, recorded on August 10, 2003, for a doubleheader against the Harrisburg Senators.
