Sprucing Up Brockton

The exterior of Campanelli Stadium, Jun-2002.

A somewhat typical seating bowl surrounds the park, with the press box elevated from the concourse.

The park is across a service alley from the Brockton High School football field.

Chronological Tour: Stop 218

• Location: West Street, Brockton, Mass.
• Opened: 2002
• Home team: Brockton Rox, Northeast League (2002-04), Can-Am League (2005-11); New England Knockouts, Frontier League (2024-present)
• Capacity: 4,750

Rating: 3 baseballs

The Northeast League came calling in 2002, and Brockton built a new ballpark next to the high school. The exterior design of the park is nothing spectacular, though it does feature murals of Brockton sports history.

What made Brockton’s facility a little different was the team ownership. The Rox were owned by the Goldklang Group, the same people who own the teams at Hudson Valley and St. Paul. While the announcements and promotions were not nearly as out of hand when I attended, the presence of a “Director of Fun” was evident. In keeping with the Rox theme, every stadium employee wore a name tag identifying the worker as “Rocky” or “Roxanne”, and at the concession stands a gourmet delicacy is permanently identified as “Tomorrow’s Special”.

The Rox were not selling out every game when I was there, but they offered a reasonable alternative in Red Sox territory. However, after a 2011 season featuring former Red Sox infielder Bill Buckner as their manager, the club suspended operations for 2012. A college summer league team operated out of the park for the next decade, using the Rox name, and will continue to utilize the facility even as a new Frontier League team, called the Knockouts, comes in for 2024.