Hank Aaron Sports Academy

Hank Aaron Sports Academy in Jackson, MS, was the home of Jackson affiliated baseball from 1975 through 1999, ending the tenure as Smith-Wills Stadium. After that, the Jackson Generals of the Texas League began playing in a new ballpark in Round Rock, TX, as the Round Rock Express.

The facility continued hosting various levels of baseball under the S-W name until becoming the Academy in 2021. The cakebox-style ballpark, which still sometimes draws the adjective "iconic", was one of the last of its era.

Two famous former MLB pitchers who never played for a Jackson team did play key roles in its history - one filled it to bursting and the other emptied it.

Its stated capacity is 5,200, but it reported 6,252 for a May 1991 game started by Fernando Valenzuela. The Mexican pitching legend was attempting a comeback with the California Angels, playing with the Midland Angels after being released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Nine years later, strikeout king Nolan Ryan's family company emptied Smith-Wills of Organized Baseball by buying the Generals and moving them to Texas.

The Mississippi Braves, who succeeded the Generals in the market but never played at Smith-Wills, have announced an exhibition game there April 5, 2023, with the Jackson State University Tigers. The M-Braves play at Trustmark Park in the Jackson suburb of Pearl, MS.

The ballpark has also hosted the Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament in 2000 and 2007, and the NAIA College World Series Opening Rounds in 2010 and 2014.