Heiwadai Stadium

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Heiwadai Baseball Stadium (平和台野球場, Heiwadai Yakyūjō) was a ballpark located in the Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. From 1950 to 1978, it served as the home ballpark of the Nishitetsu Lions, a team in Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) Pacific League. It also briefly served as the home stadium for NPB teams the Nishi Nippon Pirates in 1950 and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks from 1989 to 1992. The stadium hosted 1,904 official NPB games in its almost 58-year history. The stadium was built in 1949 in Maizuru Park, the former site of Fukuoka Castle, by converting a soccer field at Heiwadai Athletic Stadium into a ballpark. For NPB's inaugural season, the Central League's newly created Nishi Nippon Pirates used Heiwadai Stadium as its home. Additionally, the PL's newly created Nishitetsu Clippers used it as a semi-home. After Nishi Nippon's first and only season, the team merged with the Clippers to form the Nishitetsu Lions who made Heiwadai their full-time home starting in the 1951 season. When it was built, the stadium's stands consisted of only wood benches placed atop a dirt mound. It also lacked any lighting equipment to accommodate night games. In 1952, a fan riot ensued at Heiwadai after the Mainichi Orions deliberately delayed a game they were losing to force a game cancellation due to darkness. Lighting equipment was subsequently added in 1954. After the Lions began winning Japan Series championships two seasons later, Nishitetsu dramatically modernized the stadium in 1958 by completely renovating the seating areas, increasing its capacity from 24,000 to 34,000, and adding locker rooms. The Lions performed poorly in the early 1970s and low attendance at Heiwadai Stadium led to the Lions being sold. The new owner, unable to increase attendance, sold the Lions again in 1978 to owners that moved the team to Saitama...