Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park 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 t ...

stadium located in Butler,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Constructed in 1934, and rebuilt in 2008, the ballpark hosted minor league teams that were affiliated with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Detroit Tigers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Today, there are over 400 games played at the park. High School teams such as

Karns City High School Karns City High School is located in Karns City, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Karns City Area School District. The school serves students residing in Butler County, Clarion County, and Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. The boroughs of Chicor ...

, Knoch High School, Moniteau High School, North Catholic High School as well as Butler High School utilize the ballpark during their school seasons. Local colleges and universities also use Pullman Park for some of their home games. Some of these schools include

Butler County Community College Butler County Community College (BC3) is a public community college in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. It also offers courses in Cranberry Township, as well as in Lawrence, Mercer, and Jefferson counties. More recently the college has begun to ...

, Clarion University, and

Penn State Greater Allegheny Penn State Greater Allegheny (PSUGA) is a commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University that sits on the border of McKeesport and White Oak in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth ...

. Tournaments have also been hosted by Atlantic Coast Baseball and West Penn Elite. The stadium's official home team tenant is the

Butler BlueSox The Butler BlueSox are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the United States. They are a member of the Tri-State Collegiate League and were formerly a member of the East Division of the summer collegiate Prospect ...

of the Tri-State Collegiate League.

History

1934–2004

Pullman Park opened for the 1934 season. It hosted minor league baseball from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Notable players such as

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

Joe Dimaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

, and

Whitey Ford Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

played at the stadium while the Yankees farm team (

Butler Yankees A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

) was in Butler. Joe Namath,

Terry Hanratty Terrence Hugh Hanratty (born January 19, 1948) is a former American football quarterback who played in college at Notre Dame and in the National Football League during the 1960s and 1970s. He earned two Super Bowl rings as the backup quarterbac ...

, and

Rich Saul Richard Robert Saul (February 5, 1948 – April 15, 2012) was an American football offensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 through 1981, all with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Mic ...

also played at Pullman during their high school years. The ballpark itself was named after the Pullman-Standard Company's railroad car manufacturing facility which sat adjacent to the ballpark from 1902-2005.

2005–2008 Renovation

The ballpark closed after the 2004 baseball season, and sat vacant for two years while necessary funds were raised to rebuild it. Construction began in the fall of 2007, and work was completed in June 2008.

The New Pullman Park

On July 2, 2008, Pullman Park hosted a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

match, televised on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

. Butler native, Brian Minto knocked out John Poore 2:23 in the first round of the main fight. The match was the first major event to be hosted at the ballpark after the restoration and the first nationally televised event in Butler. The following summer saw Pullman Park get its first major full-time baseball tenant in almost 60 years, the Prospect League's

. The BlueSox went 28(W)-26(L) during their inaugural season at the ballpark. To date, the BlueSox have played eight full seasons at the stadium. Pullman hosted the

USCAA The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/ junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 nationa ...

's Small College World Series on May 6–9, 2013, and the Prospect League All-Star Game on July 17, 2013.

Naming Rights

In 2014, it was decided to help off set costs, stadium naming rights would be sold. In January 2014 the naming rights of Historic Pullman Park were sold to Kelly Automotive,
'' Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', 2013-12-21. Accessed 2014-01-14. a local car dealership owned by U.S. Rep Mike Kellybr>
Kelly Automotive Park was the first naming rights to be sold for a 5 year contract. In January 2019, new naming rights were obtained by a local businessman Shaun Krill of Krill Recycling, naming the park Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park. Shaun named the field after his late wife, Michelle Krill.

References

*''An Historical Gazetteer of Butler County, Pennsylvania'', Mechling Bookbindery., 2006, .

Notes

External links

Official WebsiteHistorical Pullman Park HistoryButler BlueSox
{{coord, 40.859598, -79.905967, display=t, type:landmark Baseball venues in Pennsylvania Sports venues in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Butler County, Pennsylvania Butler, Pennsylvania Sports venues completed in 1934 1934 establishments in Pennsylvania