Erdle Field is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

venue A venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a conce ...

located on the grounds of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

in El Paso County,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, USA, north of

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

. It is home to the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in El Paso County, Colorado north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. Th ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

team, which represents the Academy in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

. Opened in 1957,Falcon Baseball Field
at goairforcefalcons.com, URL accessed December 27, 2010

12-27-2010 the venue has a capacity of 1,000 spectators.Falcon Field
at thebaseballcube.com, URL accessed December 27, 2010
Archived
12-27-2010 The field, located in the Rampart Range of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, is more than above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. In both 1976 and 1995, the field hosted the United States Olympic Festivals.

Renaming

In September 2023, Falcon Field was renamed to Erdle Field in honor of Brigadier General Philip J. Erdle."https://goairforcefalcons.com/news/2023/9/1/baseball-falcon-field-renamed-erdle-field-in-honor-of-erdle-family". Goairforcefalcons.com. Retrieved September 5, 2023.

Renovations

In 1991, the facility underwent major renovations. The most notable was the addition of an

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

infield and new drainage systems; these allowed for better field conditions following inclement weather. Also, field dimensions were altered, and the dugouts were improved. The field features a 24-foot-high fence in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

. Seating capacity was expanded as well. In 2010, the

infield was replaced with Sport Turf, which has since been replaced with

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

. In Summer of 2023, major renovation plans were announced for the field. There was no start or completion date given.

References

{{Colorado NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox Air Force Falcons baseball College baseball venues in Colorado 1957 establishments in Colorado Sports venues completed in 1957

Renaming

Renovations

See also

References