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Clarke Field has been the home of Princeton baseball for nearly six decades and is named for Bill Clarke, a former Major League catcher for the Baltimore Orioles who became Princeton’s first head coach upon his retirement in 1909. Clarke coached on-and-off through 1944, compiling a record of 564-322-10 in 36 seasons.
The field took the place of University Field, which stood where the E-Quad stands today. The first game played at Clarke Field came on March 31, 1961 when the Tigers lost to Massachusetts 4-2 in their season opener.
The field is a sunken diamond with hills along both the first and third base lines. Permanent seats are built into the first-base line berm and bleachers are located atop the third-base line berm. Behind the plate, there is an indoor press box with a new public address sound system.
In Princeton’s continuing effort to keep the field in top condition, a brand new infield was installed and the outfield fences were repositioned in the fall of 2005. In the infield, the old grass and dirt was pulled up, tilled, and laser graded, then new sod and infield dirt was put down.
In the outfield, the fences were moved in to make the field a little more fair for hitters. However, even with fences moved in, Clarke Field still boasts one of the largest playing surfaces in the Ivy League. Along the outfield fence are signs commemorating Princeton’s Gehrig Division titles, Ivy League titles and NCAA tournament appearances.
Improvements have continually been made to Clarke Field. Over time, a pair of outdoor batting cages were built just outside the left-field line. The cages have field turf on the bottom and have provided the team with more areas to work while outside. A new scoreboard with a radar gun was installed in 2015 with new dugouts completed prior to the 2016 season.
Hoyt Indoor Turf Area
The Princeton baseball team benefits from use of the Hoyt Indoor Turf Area located in Jadwin Gym.The turf area features a FieldTurf surface with a full-size diamond complete with bases, home plate and batters boxes, which allows the team to simulate hitting and fielding situations while indoors. The turf area also contains pitching mounds and batting cages to allow players from different positions to work on their skills at the same time.
