Parker Faller Field
Yakima, WA
Review by Gary
Parker Faller Field, on the Yakima Valley College (YVC) campus, is the second ballpark to occupy this site. The original stadium, built in 1937, was known as Parker Field and was home to YVC Yaks baseball as well as football. The Yakima Pippins of the Western International League (WIL) played here from 1937 to 1941. Named after a local philanthropist who donated the land for the field, Parker Field went without a pro team until 1946 when a succession of WIL and Northwest League teams played here until 1966.
A fire destroyed most of the Parker Field grandstand in 1962 and the facility was eventually razed in 1967 after the Braves departed. The baseball stadium as it appears today was constructed in 1973 as part of a plan to reinvigorate an American Legion baseball program. The Yakima Beetles, the town’s American Legion AAA youth baseball team, has played at Parker Faller field for over 90 years. The Yakima School District also plays its home games here.
In 2015, the field was officially renamed Parker Faller Field in honor of the long-time, Hall of Fame YVC baseball head coach who led the Yaks from 1961 until 1987. No pro team played at the stadium for 23 years until a Los Angeles Dodgers farm team relocated here from Salem, Oregon in 1990. This Class A short season club was the last pro-affiliated team to play at Parker Faller Field. They relocated to the new Yakima County Stadium, less than 3 miles away, in 1993.
The ballpark features 2,500 seats, with those behind the home dish being of the fixed seat style. These seats are part of a grandstand that is in front of a raised press box. The press box and adjoining concessions and restrooms are all made of cinderblock and metal siding. The last seven rows of these seats are covered by a nice, sloped roof making them the best seats in the park. Sections of aluminum bleachers flank the “reserved section” and run down to the corner bases.
The diamond is situated in an unorthodox orientation, southeast rather than the usual east-northeast layout. The ballpark has a decidedly local feel, with numerous city advertisements adorning the outfield fence. Wooden picnic tables are scattered on the brick concourse behind the grandstand, making Parker Faller Field a delightful venue to see some local baseball in the Yakima Valley.
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2026
313
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Beloved New York Met second baseman Félix “The Cat” Millán (lovingly known as “Filet Mignon” by the Ballpark Brothers) played at the ballpark for the Yakima Valley Braves in 1965.