There was once a time when Disch-Falk Field was wrinkle-free, as the deteriorating stadium replaced Texas' first baseball arena - Clark Field, which opened in 1928 just north of Memorial Stadium and seated 2,000.

There are stale raisins with fewer wrinkles than Texas' Disch-Falk Field.

The Longhorn baseball team has been playing there so long that in three years the Disch will be the same age as the Astrodome was when the Houston Astros left it for palatial Minute Maid Park.

It's hard to envision Longhorn baseball without the aged Disch, but Texas' home field used to be completely different. It was a field that played host to the Murderer's Row, was the scene of its fair share of riots, and had a cliff in center field. It was Clark Field.

"They said it was like Wrigley Field. It was the cozy confines of Clark Field," said Texas associate head coach Tommy Harmon. "They'll never be another place like it anywhere."

Clark Field, the baseball venue is not to be mistaken with the current all-purpose athletic field that bears the same name. Indeed, that Clark Field is only the third incarnation of a hundred-plus-year history, dating back to the original field that bordered the Texas campus, where 24th Street and Speedway are today. Baseball's Clark Field was the second Clark, and by far the most memorable.

Clark Field II used to be located just north of Memorial Stadium on 23rd Street, about where the Bass Concert Hall now sits. It opened in 1928. Clark was an old-fashioned ballpark, with grand-stands, pillars and roof made out of wood. Instead of a net, chicken-wire hung down from the covering above, protecting fans behind home plate from errant baseballs. In contrast to Disch-Falk, which holds 6,500 fans, Clark could sit only 2,000.

"I always thought crowds were big because they were right down on the action," said former Longhorn pitcher Jim Gideon. "On the field you could hear vendors in the stands, and smell the food. There would be a double-header you'd be starving and could smell the hot dogs and popcorn."

During rivalry games, especially against Texas A&M;, crowds at Clark Field could get out of control. Gideon estimates than when A&M; came to town as much as 4,000 fans would mob the bleachers and stand along the fences, or wherever else they could see the action.

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