After stumbling onto to this MLB.com (Cut4) article from 2015, I was immediately blown away by the utterly unbelievable Clark Field.
Clark Field, if you’re unaware, was the home town ball park for the University of Texas-Austin Longhorns from 1928 until 1975. And for the most part, that field looked like any other one … except for one small thing:
The giant, rocky cliff in center field!!
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Indeed, when considering each of Cut4’s Seven bizarre ballpark features from baseball history that you’ll need to see to believe, the University of Texas-Austin EASILY takes the cake for absurdity.
With a huge tip of the hat to MLB’s Chris Landers, I’d like to share a snippet from 1974 Texas Monthly article describing the ball park
“Clark Field is different from any other baseball park in the world. Some are larger, some smaller; some seat more, some seat less; some have lights, some don’t … Other ballparks are divided into infield and outfield; Clark Field is divided into lowlands and uplands.”
And yes, before you ask it: the cliff was IN PLAY.
The NCAA eventually decided that balls who found their way up onto the cliff were going to be considered ground rule doubles, but that wasn’t until 42 years after it’s creation (1970).
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I honestly can’t really fathom why the architects of Clark Field found the cliff necessary, but I’m pretty happy that they did.
And if you have the time, why don’t you head over to MLB.com, and check out some of the other ballpark oddities. They include trees in the outfield, sun delays, a 40-foot-high screen, a baseball-eating roof, movable fences, and even imaginary home run lines.
Unique stadiums is one thing that makes baseball great … but some of these would sure take some getting used to!
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