Where Pigs Fly

Home-plate entrance to QuikTrip Park, Aug-2008.

From here, the seating bowl is visible along with the main building of Lone Star Park racetrack.

The view from behind the plate includes a performance venue barely visible in right field.

Chronological Tour: Stop 339

• Location: Lone Star Parkway, east of Belt Line Road 1 mile north of I-30, Grand Prairie, Texas (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2008 as QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie
• Additional names: The Ballpark at Grand Prairie (2013), AirHogs Stadium (2015)
• Home team: Grand Prairie AirHogs, American Association (2008-present); Arlington Baptist College Patriots, NCCAA Division 1; Texas Wesleyan Rams, Sooner Athletic Conference
• Capacity: 5,445

Rating: 3 baseballs

The new ballpark is on the campus of Lone Star Park, a horse-racing track. The campus also hosts the Nokia Theatre, a performance venue. Both facilities are visible from certain angles at this ballpark, originally named QuikTrip Park thanks to a sponsorship by the chain of gas stations and convenience stores.

Whereas LaGrave Field is an old ballpark that was lovingly retrofit to accommodate modern ball, this is clearly an early-21st-century facility, but with some touches that recall the spirit of aviation in the Dallas area. An “air hog” was a World War II-era aviator, so called because the squadrons wished to hog the sky with planes in order to scare off the enemy. Accordingly, the entryway is shaped something like a hangar, and runway markings are visible as you come into the park.

Prices (tickets, food, souvenirs) seem quite reasonable at this park, with the exception of parking. The Lone Star Park operators get $4 for a ball game, as opposed to $2 for the racetrack.

With the fate of LaGrave Field in doubt at the start of 2015, the Rams of Texas Wesleyan joined the Patriots of Arlington Baptist as collegiate tenants of the Grand Prairie ballpark. The Rams are members of the NAIA, while the Patriots are part of the National Christian Colleges Athletic Association.