Pringles Park

Note: This is part of Matt Nelson's Ballparks of the Midwest series.

Pringles Park in Jackson, Tennessee is the only professional sports venue between Nashville and Memphis on Interstate 40.

The stadium opened in 1998 as the home of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx. Prior to 2011 the AA Southern League franchise changed its name in an effort to boost excitement. The Jackson Generals name has been used by prior Jackson teams, not only in Jackson, Tennessee, but in other Jacksons, such as Jackson, Mississippi.

Upon arrival at Pringles Park fans will find it's one of many diamonds in the area as its location is in the midst of a sports complex full of baseball fields. There's plenty of parking right by the ballpark and on my visit on Opening Night 2011, the parking lots were being put to good use with some fine tailgating.

Unfortunately Pringles Park does not offer a 360-degree concourse, so fans can really only walk from foul pole to foul pole. Fans enter the stadium at the top of the seating bowl, and the field is set below. Interstate 40 runs just beyond left field and center field and right field are surrounded by nearby woods.

Not surprisingly on Opening Night 2011 with the new name change, one of the hot spots was The Generals Store, the local merchandise store, as fans purchased everything from mini bats to flip-flops adorned with the Generals logo. Also, that was about the only place in the park where one could still find the Diamond Jaxx logo...on the clearance rack. The club made a lengthy effort to switch all logos over to the Generals, everything from letterhead to floor mats.

Pringles Park in Jackson is a serviceable park where the home club hopes to turn around the attendance numbers with its change in team name and logo.