Bill Clarke Field is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

venue in

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. It is home to the

Princeton Tigers baseball The Princeton Tigers baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The team is a member of the Ivy League, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's ...

team of the

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Division I

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. Opened in 1961 and renovated in 2005, the venue is named for Bill “Boileryard” Clarke, former Princeton head baseball coach. The field is a sunken diamond, with the playing surface lying lower than the surrounding seating areas.

History

The first game played at Bill Clarke Field was on March 31, 1962, in which Princeton lost 4–2 to . As of the end of the 2006 season, Princeton had gone 422-277-6 (.603) at Clarke Field and finished with a losing record in only eight seasons. In 2005, the facility underwent renovations. As part of the renovations, the

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-c ...

was redone and the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

fences were moved closer to

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. In 2006, outdoor

batting cage A batting cage (or tunnel) is an enclosed area for baseball or softball players to practice the skill of batting. The optimal material for batting cages is netting, and they are typically rectangular in shape. Chain-link fence is not required but ...

s surfaces were added past the

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

fence.

Naming

The facility is named for former Princeton coach Bill Clarke. Clarke assisted the team from 1897–1901, while still playing in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. After retiring from professional baseball in 1905, Clarke returned to Princeton as the first paid head coach in 1909. He served two stints as the Tigers' head coach, one from 1909–1927 and the other from 1934-1944. Princeton was 564-322-10 (.642) under Clarke.

Features

In addition to the features involved in 2005 and 2006 renovations, the field has an electronic scoreboard,

public address system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

, and

press box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the e ...

. The field's seating areas, raised around the sunken diamond, consist of permanent seats on the first-base side and bleachers on the third-base line.

References

{{New Jersey NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox College baseball venues in the United States Baseball venues in New Jersey Princeton Tigers baseball Princeton University buildings Sports venues in the New York metropolitan area 1961 establishments in New Jersey Sports venues completed in 1961

History

Naming

Features

See also

References