Trustmark Park
Pearl, MS
Review by Gary
Trustmark Park is the home of the Mississippi Mud Monsters of the independent National Association of Professional Baseball (NAPB). If you have never heard of the NAPB, that is because the league was known as the Frontier League until October 1, 2026. If anyone thinks that Mud Monsters is not the best of monikers, consider that about 5,600 people chose it over the Mississippi Grits or Soul Shakers!
Beginning play in May 2025, the Mudders replaced the departed Mississippi Braves, the Atlanta Double-A farm club that had played at Trustmark from 2005 to 2024. The Braves relocated to Columbus, Georgia to become the Columbus Clingstones in time for the 2025 season. The venue is one of the largest in the NAPB with a total capacity of 8,480 (6,500 fixed seats).
Baseball has been played in the greater Jackson area since 1904, when the teams played on the city’s fairgrounds. Except for a time from 1953 to 1974, there has been a professional ball club in the region of the state capital. The Jackson Mets (1975-1990) and Jackson Generals (1991-1999) both played at nearby Smith-Willis Stadium, just a 15-minute drive from Trustmark Park. The stadium shares its home field with Belhaven University’s Blazers of the NCAA Division III.
With the arrival of both clubs, the grass and dirt infield were replaced with synthetic turf, while the outfield remains natural grass. The very notion of “Mud Monsters” seems lost as the players can no longer muck up their uniforms by sliding on any kind of soil with them now playing on a fake dirt infield. The choice to make Trustmark Park more usable for events beyond baseball seemed more logical.
The ballpark's crisp exterior and interior design includes red brick and exposed steel trusses painted green. A 360-degree concourse allows spectators to watch the action from all around the playing field. Even the foul poles are painted “monster” green, instead of the traditional yellow, which may make calling home runs challenging at times.
Trustmark Park boasts 22 luxury suites, a picnic pavilion, party deck areas on the suite level and a full-service restaurant beyond the right-field fence where diners can see the action sitting indoors or al fresco. Trustmark Park is in excellent condition for a gently used stadium of its age. Just keep an eye out for those pesky, yet dirt-free Mud Monsters!
2026
2026
320
317
