H.P. Hunnicutt Field is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Princeton, West Virginia Princeton, is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The city is coined the "Heart of Mercer County" or the "Jewel of the South" in past decades. The population was 6,432 at the 2010 census with approximat ...

. It is primarily used for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and was the home field of the

Princeton WhistlePigs The Princeton WhistlePigs were a summer collegiate baseball team of the Appalachian League. They were located in Princeton, West Virginia, and played their home games at H. P. Hunnicutt Field. "Whistle pig" is an alternate name for a groundhog. H ...

in the summer collegiate

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...

until 2023, when the team ceased operations. It is also home to the teams of Princeton Middle School and

Princeton High School Princeton High School may refer to: *Princeton High School (Illinois), Princeton, Illinois *Princeton Community High School, Princeton, Indiana *Princeton High School (Minnesota), Princeton, Minnesota *Princeton Junior-Senior High School, Princeton ...

, located adjacent to the high school football field. Built in 1988, it was developed by the H.P. and Anne S. Hunnicutt Foundation, and it holds 1,700. The stadium was updated in 1999 from wooden bleachers and press boxes to a modernized stadium featuring wrap around bleacher seating down each foul line and box seats behind home plate. Also added were home and visitor locker areas, coach's offices, and training rooms. More recently, a new batting tunnel was constructed near the main gate of the stadium which can accommodate practices in inclement weather.

Tenants

Hunnicutt Field has been home to numerous tenants throughout the years. The first team to play in Princeton was a

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

affiliate. They stayed from 1988 to 1989 then quickly left. The Philadelphia Phillies quickly set up a co-op with the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves called the Princeton Patriots. The co-op only lasted through 1990 when the Cincinnati Reds decided to add a team in 1991. The Reds had several successful years but left in 1996. The Tampa Bay Rays'

Princeton Rays The Princeton Rays were a Minor League Baseball team in Princeton, West Virginia, operating as an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with several Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises, primarily the Tam ...

settled down at Hunnicutt Field in 1997 and remained until after the 2020 season.http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?sid=t455&ymd=20060201&content_id=40039&vkey=team4

References

External links

H.P. Hunnicutt Field Views – ''Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues''
Baseball venues in West Virginia Minor league baseball venues Buildings and structures in Mercer County, West Virginia Tourist attractions in Mercer County, West Virginia Princeton, West Virginia {{WestVirginia-baseball-venue-stub