Your favorite college baseball stadium?

Plainsman Park, Auburn, Alabama.

just plain beautiful.......

Once voted the finest college field in the nation..(2003 or so??)..The official name is Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park...........but its just plainsman park to me.....My dad was an Auburn Plainsman....Before the Tiger nickname.....


WAR EAGLE!

Have you been to Lebanon Valley in PA ?

Tough to beat the views at Pepperdine - 180 degrees of ocean...

quote:

Tough to beat the views at Pepperdine - 180 degrees of ocean...

Especially when Pamela is there.

Come by Baum stadium at The University of Arkansas. Average attendance around 7,000- 8,000 fans (second highest in the US). This season the twelve sky-boxes are being expanded to twenty-one sky-boxes from foul pole to foul pole. Chairback seating, great student section, wide concourse area and concessions behind the seats. An atmosphere you just can't beat. The fans really get behind the team.

Baum Stadium

Whichever one my son is playing in.....

especially if he goes deep.

KC ...

That is very impressive ... looks nicer than a lot of minor league fields. And it appears the attendance is higher as well. Must be great to play in that venue.

Smaller school, but Miami of Ohio is gorgeous.

My two favorites are Tony Gwynn Stadium at San Diego State and especially Jackie Robinson Park at UCLA. They both say college baseball in every way. Some of the others might as well be minor league ballparks, which ought to be left to professional baseball.

The Sunken Diamond at Stanford is a great place to watch college baseball.

The funniest place is Sacramento State, went there to check out some college teams and watched a game where the Sacramento fans were supporting their team from a multi-level parking structure just beyond left field. They were heckling the left and center fielders from the parking structure; the coolest part was the students using their “engineering” skills in lower the kegs down to the low levels when the school police came by!

O.K., are you ready.....Southern Illinois University - The Salukis'

Close your eyes......and picture an old minor league park with wooden outfield fences, with advertising painted on them. From the batting area cage around home plate, down both foul lines running past the dugouts is the stands that have white picket fencing about thigh high going to the outfield fences. The bullpens are in there as well. The field grass is pristine, like at Augusta, and the infield dirt is just spectacular. Along the rightfield area is a grassy knoll that runs the length of the rightside, and it has huge trees behind that for shade.

When the players are on the field you only hear, chatter, birds, the 'snap' of the catchers mitt, the "ting" of the bat, and the cheers of the fans. No cars, planes, trains, nothing else.

PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!

Homerun - I've seen some of that ritual at Sac. State!

JBB - being that I was there Saturday afternoon, I heard it was much livelier on Friday night and the visiting team had to pull their underclassman leftfielder who had made a error!

I also heard that Chico State being in an independent pro league field used to be very eventful on Friday nights before the banned Alcohol at college baseball games.

quote:

Originally posted by jmepop:
Whichever one my son is playing in.....

Can't argue with that one!

Well...it isn't my home field and it isn't Rosenblatt. BLINN COLLEGE in Brenham, Texas! Ha, kidding. It has to be one of the finer junior college fields around IMO.

In all seriousness, my 2 favorites are really polar opposites in terms of a rivalry standpoint. The stadium at the University of Texas has always been great, and with renovations for the upcoming season, I can't wait to see it. The second, of all places would be Olsen Field at Texas A&M. A lot of high school playoff games are there so we really love it. It's a beautiful field.

Rice Univ.'s Reckling Park.

BTW, the field at Spring HS is nice, I always enjoyed playing there.

You should see it now! Brand new batting cages and bullpen...our new coach has done great things for the program both for the players and for the field.

Every stadium should have this....

RBI Girls

During recruiting I asked the head coach if it was distracting having girls dance on top of the dugouts every other inning? He grinned and said that they hoped it was distracting...to the other team!

Tony Gwynn Satdium

Pepperdine University

and USD Torreos

My top three.

Baum Stadium in Arkansas has one of the best college stadiums I have ever seen. The RBI girls make the down time fun. The atmosphere is terrific. If you ever get a chance to watch a game there don't miss it!

BTW I am a die hard Tennessee Vols fan. But we are talking stadiums here and not teams.

Ohio State has a real nice stadium.

Johnson Stadium @ Doubleday Field.
Home to Black Knights of Army
West Point, NY

Americana at its best. The facility is great, the atmosphere is second to none.
"When you are there, you are family"
and this family has a lot of relatives.

I am anxious to see LSU's new stadium. Word is it's costing $32 million, so it must be really nice. I hear Nebraskas stadium is very nice as well. OPson went to a PG National Showcase in June @ the U of Cincinnati. That was one VERY nice ballpark.

quote:

Originally posted by woodstock:
Baum Stadium in Arkansas has one of the best college stadiums I have ever seen. The RBI girls make the down time fun. The atmosphere is terrific. If you ever get a chance to watch a game there don't miss it!

BTW I am a die hard Tennessee Vols fan. But we are talking stadiums here and not teams.

Woodstock,

I've always had a soft spot for Kingsport, Tennessee. I noticed you were from there. I pitched my first professional game in that town against the Kingsport Mets way back in 1981. There were quite a few players on that Mets team that made it to the big leagues. Steve Phillips (didn't play in the big leagues, but was a successful GM with the Mets), Mark Carreon, Lenny Dykstra, Terry Blocker come to mind. I played for the Bluefield Orioles at the time. Flew in to the Tri-State airport somewhere around there!! Oh well......just thought I'd reminisce a little.

i also like Tony Gwynn Stadium, but a really nice NAIA field is Point Loma Nazarene, with ocean in the outfield, and the field on top of a cliff

quote:

Originally posted by Old Pitcher:
OPson went to a PG National Showcase in June @ the U of Cincinnati. That was one VERY nice ballpark.

As a University of Cincinnati alum, I concur!

When I was in school there many moons ago, their field was akin to a mediocre HS field just over the present-day LF fence. My dorm looked down over it...I remember watching the Reds take some BP there before a trip to Japan in the off-season.

BTW, can you name one VERY FAMOUS former University of Cincinnati pitcher? (Hint: He attended UC on a basketball scholarship for 1 year before signing a pro baseball contract. His college baseball coach was also the freshman basketball coach...my how times have changed).

Who is Sandy Koufax?
I'll take Potent Potables for 200 Alex.

Haven't been to too many DI stadiums, but we found the stadium at UVA to be very nice. Also, FSU's Howser Stadium in Tallahassee was great and they continue to make improvements. Nice to have money eh?
Ok, now what's everyone's least favorite? I've got to go with Boston College. Went to a double-header against Clemson last year and was mortified. Just a field really, butted up against a parking garage down the 1B/RF line. One small set of aluminum bleachers and the restrooms? That's right, porta-potties!

Penn State's new ballpark has to be right up there, my 23yo said it was the nicest college park he'd ever seen.

quote:

Originally posted by spizzlepop:
Who is Sandy Koufax?
I'll take Potent Potables for 200 Alex.

Very nice spizzle!

Now just for fun...can you name a current big leaguer UCinn. alum...shoulda been an all star this year, but was somehow left off. He's considered a true Moneyball player. (And BTW, he also attended my HS ).

Youkalis, the Greek God of Walks.

Atta boy PopTime! Also an alum of my HS in Cincinnati, the Sycamore HS Aviators!

Youk! Youk! Youk!

Louisville and Cinciannti very nice

Mississippi State, A lot like Arkansas but homemade grills with seating stretched around the outside fence.By the 5th or 6th inning the barbecue smoke is waffting in the air in the outfield.The visiting team is also adopted by one of grillers so as not to miss out.The sec knows how to enjoy their baseball.

OK aside from my son's home field (the always gorgeously occupied Les Murakami stadium in beautiful Honolulu, HI )...
I have to put in my two pesos for Isotopes Stadium in Albuquerque. Home of the UNM Lobos, and of course The 'Topes (DOH!), It's a great big beautiful new AAA park filled with great sight lines, scenic slendor, and fan comfort features. The ball really flies in the thin air, and the hill in center makes for some very interesting plays.

Check out the virtual tour.
http://www.kamazar.com/stadium_tour/start_seating.htm

Too bad the Lobos haven't been able to fill it up with fans quite yet, but maybe that will change if/when the team starts winning more games in April and May. With a new coach and a new attitude, it may just happen. Make sure and look me up if you're in town for a game.

spizzlepop - I've been there and you are right! It is a very nice ballpark. BTW, wife went to UNM.

You and I were in the same place at the same time, we just didn't know it till now.
And as they say around here, everyone's a Lobo
woof! woof! woof!

quote:

Originally posted by spizzlepop:
You and I were in the same place at the same time, we just didn't know it till now.
And as they say around here, everyone's a Lobo
woof! woof! woof!

LOL! My kids know that cheer...taught by their mom.

Wish I'd have known we were both there. Maybe we can 'catch up' at Sunken Diamond (another beauty) this year.

.

Better yet... I believe the most beautiful parks in any one Conference belong to the Mountain West Conference. OK, you can't really count some of them, as they are AAA parks, but the college teams still get to use them, and they call them "home".

Isotopes in Albuquerque - already mentioned, for the UofNM

Franklin Covey (SLC) - for the University of Utah. The backdrop looking out over left and center fields looks like the mtns have been painted on the sky.

Sky Sox (on occasion for USAFA) - Colorado Springs
and
Falcon Field (on campus)- Terrible field, and the Fear of the West for most pitchers... 7500 ft elevation, with a wind off Pikes Peak that blows to straight away Center, when it's not blowing to Right or to Left, that can sand blast the chrome off a trailer hitch. Rumor has it that a ball hit last May, hasn't come down yet. You can find Falcon Field by turning right at the B52.

TCU - a beautiful ballpark

Tony Gwynn Stadium (SDSU). Aging, but still a great one.

UNLV - in view of the Strip and right under the flight plan of McCarren Airport. I do like this fan friendly park.

But the best, and I think right up there with Baylor, Pepperdine, Univ of Spoiled Daughters (for it's unique juxtposition) is...

BYU - at the base of the Wasatch... great architecture (probably the same guy who did the Denver Internat'l Airport), good food, huge fan support. I just personally think they can be some of the nastiest fans on the planet.

cadDAD

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