Albert Park
San Rafael, CA
Review by Mike
Albert Park is the home of the San Rafael Pacifics of the Pecos League. This lovely old ballpark just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco was built in 1950, but did not host a professional team until 2012. Now members of a 3rd league since their founding, the Pacifics have managed to calm the stormy seas of independent baseball for more than a decade.
The grandstand is old school and lovely. A gentle, curved structure with a full roof spreads wide behind home plate. Interestingly, the entire seating area is enclosed by chain link fence, not just the backstop. This means that you can have access to the field, without actually being able to sit in the seats. Even the dugouts are enclosed in chain link.
Perhaps due to the claustrophobic nature of the subterranean dugout cages, curved auxiliary fences have been placed outside the dugouts with a couple of benches so players can sit on the field and watch the game. Another interesting feature is that the centerfield fence doubles as the backstop for a little league field positioned opposite the larger diamond. A 370’ sign is affixed to the top of the backstop.
There is a light tower down each foul line quite close to fair territory, making for a potential hazard to infielders chasing high foul popups, and interesting caroms for fair balls down the line that curve into foul territory. The scoreboard is simple, but well maintained and the field is in very nice shape.
Albert Park has survived for more than 70 years as a community ballpark, with only recent pro ball to help support its existence. It appears the good folks in San Rafael understand that they have a gem of a stadium, even if it doesn’t have a long history of Hall of Famers passing through. Thanks to the grounds crew who let me in for a wander as they prepared for a high school playoff game that evening.
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2024
253
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