Caveman Corral

Entrance to the baseball field at Carlsbad High School, Oct-2021.

A simple grandstand, partially covered, suitable for high school play.

The field currently sports modern artificial turf.

• Location: 8th and Church Streets, Carlsbad, N.M. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: Unknown
• Home team: Carlsbad Bats, Pecos League (three games in 2011); Carlsbad Cavemen, New Mexico Activities Association
• Capacity: 600 (approx.)

The Corral, as it is known, was scheduled to be used by the Carlsbad Bats of the new Pecos League in 2011. (Both nicknames, the Cavemen and the Bats, are references to nearby Carlsbad Caverns National Park.) Due to disputes with the school district and with the head coach of the Cavemen, the Bats wound up as a road team. They only played three games in Carlsbad that season, and I am not even certain if they were played here. Another park two miles away on Lea Street (SR 524), the expansive Bob Forrest Complex, has two full-size baseball diamonds that might have been suitable.

In any case, the league was stymied by a statement made by the city mayor during the 2011-12 offseason, stating that a club would not be permitted to sell beer at games in Carlsbad. The league then looked elsewhere, and the brief renaissance of pro ball in the city came to an end. Carlsbad had previously hosted low-level pro ball with the Potashers from 1953-61.