PK Park
Eugene, OR
Review by Mike
PK Park in Eugene, Oregon is the home of the Eugene Emeralds of the High-A Northwest League. This nice little stadium is on the campus of the University of Oregon and is also home to the Oregon Ducks during the NCAA season. It’s a really nice NCAA baseball stadium, but the place of baseball in the hearts of Eugenians is left in no doubt as the giant, 54,000 seat Autzen Stadium, home of Oregon football, towers beyond the 1st base line.
The stadium is a modern, single level bowl with seating extending down both lines, although there is no opportunity to walk completely around the park. A suite level sits above the concourse and a rather large roof extends up and out from the top of that.
The playing surface is field turf, and all of the stadium décor and colors are in honor of the Ducks, not the Emeralds, even though the minor league team surely plays more games here than the college team. That’s the price you pay for setting up shop on a college campus.
There is a covered picnic area down the first base line and a simpler such accommodation down the right field line. The one notable between inning promotion was the Sasquatch Race featuring someone in a shaggy dog suit racing a fan around the warning track. I’m not sure if this quite settles the debate on the existence of Bigfoot.
With a nice backdrop of trees, good seating all around and easy access from the lovely city of Eugene, PK Park is a perfectly pleasant, and colorful, place to watch future stars getting ready for the next level.
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2022
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