Ward Park neighbors Richard W. Bailey Field and Larry Mahaney Diamond were both constructed in 1985 as the first outdoor playing facilities on the Saint Joseph’s College Campus. Lights were installed in 1987 to make Ward Park New England’s first fully lighted baseball/softball complex.

Formerly known as the “Softball Field at Ward Park,” the diamond was named in honor of legendary Head Coach Dick Bailey, a 2008 Saint Joseph’s College Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, during the 2011 season. As part of the dedication ceremony a state of the art inning-by-inning scoreboard with a header featuring the Monks and NCAA logos and the text "Richard W. Bailey Field at Saint Joseph's College" was added and the new field designation can also be found in bold, capital letters above the Monks' home dugout on the third base side of the diamond.

Coach Bailey guided the Royal Blue for 16 seasons and came back in 2011 as an assistant to the coaching staff. In 11 highly successful seasons at the helm for St. Joe's, Coach Bailey amassed 244 wins (a program record upon his departure in 1995), six conference crowns, four New England Championships and an NAIA National Tournament appearance in 1994. Bailey, hired as Dean of Students at Saint Joseph's in 1979 after having served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps, was inducted into the Saint Joseph's College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.

 RICHARD W. BAILEY FIELD QUICK FACTS

Richard W. Bailey Field