Jack Critchfield Park, Slippery Rock, Pa.

Pride of the Rock

Entrance to Jack Critchfield Park at Slippery Rock University, Sep-2008.

The view into the ballpark from beyond the outfield.

Quick Facts:

Location: Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania campus, Slippery Rock, Pa.
Opened: 2002
Home team: Slippery Rock Sliders, Frontier League (2007); Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
Capacity: 4,000

Jack Critchfield, a pitcher for Slippery Rock State Teachers College in the early 1950s, went on to become a successful executive and a trustee of another college. In 2001, he and his wife gave a sizable donation to build a new field on the now-sprawling Slippery Rock campus. Prior to the 2002 season, the Rock had played their baseball games at a smaller field just off the campus.

For the 2007 season, the Frontier League placed a team at Jack Critchfield Park. That club left Slippery Rock after just one season; I had attempted to make a game at the park that year, but it was rained out. The Frontier League team operated as a road team in 2008 and then settled temporarily in Ypsilanti, Mich., for 2009, with plans to build a new park in Waterford, Mich, that never came to fruition. Meanwhile, the college continues to use this handsome facility. Most recently, the ballpark has been seen hosting the Prospect League, a college summer league.

I was unable to get into Jack Critchfield Park during my 2008 visit.

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