Interesting comment from Stricklin RE baseball stadium

[bully99]

Chill our podnah. It was a joke

[engie]

I vote that we force bully99 (and everybody else who doesn't get the sight line issue) to sit in the bleachers for all 27 innings of the Vanderbilt series- that way you'll understand what all the bitching is about.

That would be okay, right? I mean, according to you, bleachers and bad sight lines don't really make a difference.

Exactly.

Anyone that doesn't understand the bitching hasn't sat there for a full, normal game. You might be able to overcome it and not realize how miserable it is during regionals or SBW when the place is electric. Try sitting out there during the midweek while looking at an empty grandstand and get back to me...

[Todd4State]

And who was responsible for doing away with the 7 inning games. Yes Ron Polk. He brought it up every year to the sec until they finally changed it. At one time State held the ncaa record for complete games. Of course many were seven inning games. And why Jeff Brantley pitched about every 3 days.

7 inning games hurt us from a postseason standpoint, and they hurt every other SEC team as well. Once we did away with that, I think that was a key in the SEC becoming what it is today in baseball. He was right to vote to do away with that. It's also a safety issue with pitchers IMO. You tell a guy like Stratton who has been pitching 7 innings that now all of a sudden we need 9, and then you have relief pitchers who haven't pitched as much and now all of a sudden we're asking them to pitch a lot- that's a big difference. It's much safer to condition a pitcher to go 9 or have a relief pitcher to throw some in relief during the regular season rather than have them take a lot of time off and then ask them to throw a lot.

It's also a disadvantage from a managing standpoint because you get used to managing a 7 inning game and then now all of a sudden you have to switch to 9. It's just easier to be used to doing 9 so that there's not as much adapting.

[Todd4State]

Exactly.

Anyone that doesn't understand the bitching hasn't sat there for a full, normal game. You might be able to overcome it and not realize how miserable it is during regionals or SBW when the place is electric. Try sitting out there during the midweek while looking at an empty grandstand and get back to me...

You would think that after the architects MSU hired confirmed that there isn't anyway to fix the sight lines other than demolition that people would realize that you were right about that all along and drop it.

[bully99]

Todd, you are way overstating the 7 inning affect on pitching. Many conferences had 7 inning doubleheaders back then. Polk just thought baseball was competitively a 9 inning game. Most pitchers didn't go 9 innings. Polks best years came during the 7 inning doubleheaders.

[Homedawg]

I'm confused about one thing, our crowds for most sec weekends were poor in the grandstand. And everyone is talking about sight lines and the such. But for over a year you could go and sit in the grandstand in an empty seat Wo any questions. No more waiting until the 5th inning or anything. I get it the bleachers suck during a big weekend or regional. I honestly have never sat there. Don't know, but I believe those who say it does. But for all the bitching on here about not coming to games bc they would have to sit there is bs. I cant think of one time beside super bulldog weekend and the regional where that was true. Excuses excuses. Fact is if u don't have seats now, in whatever we do w the stadium, odds are you won't have any then either. Unless u pony up big time. Hope you do.

[Tbonewannabe]

There you go again. Cricks and sightlines. My oh my.

I am guessing here but you haven't watched a game from those shitastic bleachers in the last 10 years.

[Coach34]

I'm confused about one thing, our crowds for most sec weekends were poor in the grandstand. And everyone is talking about sight lines and the such. But for over a year you could go and sit in the grandstand in an empty seat Wo any questions. No more waiting until the 5th inning or anything. I get it the bleachers suck during a big weekend or regional. I honestly have never sat there. Don't know, but I believe those who say it does. But for all the bitching on here about not coming to games bc they would have to sit there is bs. I cant think of one time beside super bulldog weekend and the regional where that was true. Excuses excuses. Fact is if u don't have seats now, in whatever we do w the stadium, odds are you won't have any then either. Unless u pony up big time. Hope you do.

Most people are not going to bring a family of 4 from out of town on the "hope" they can transition to chairbacks with their 3 yr old and 7 yr old kids. They want a guarantee

[Homedawg]

Coach, fair point. But how do you think they are now going to get those seats? Guess what of they don't have priority they aren't getting them now either. Now meaning in a new grandstand.

Eta, they might not want to come on a "hope" but for the past 10 + years it wouldnt be a hope it hasn't been full except in the aforementioned weekends. So one could know seats were available. And available every single day of every single weekend.

[Coach34]

Coach, fair point. But how do you think they are now going to get those seats? Guess what of they don't have priority they aren't getting them now either. Now meaning in a new grandstand.

Eta, they might not want to come on a "hope" but for the past 10 + years it wouldnt be a hope it hasn't been full except in the aforementioned weekends. So one could know seats were available. And available every single day of every single weekend.

Well, the new Grandstand would have 7-8K chairbacks- a couple thousand more. And as I said- develop a system for people not making it to theirs to give them up electronically so that the school could sell them or something. There is a way. Takes some progressive thinking

[Tbonewannabe]

Coach, fair point. But how do you think they are now going to get those seats? Guess what of they don't have priority they aren't getting them now either. Now meaning in a new grandstand.

Eta, they might not want to come on a "hope" but for the past 10 + years it wouldnt be a hope it hasn't been full except in the aforementioned weekends. So one could know seats were available. And available every single day of every single weekend.

I have seen people checking tickets going up into the grandstand in the last 10 years. Although I haven't tried just walking up there without a ticket.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I'm confused about one thing, our crowds for most sec weekends were poor in the grandstand. And everyone is talking about sight lines and the such. But for over a year you could go and sit in the grandstand in an empty seat Wo any questions. No more waiting until the 5th inning or anything. I get it the bleachers suck during a big weekend or regional. I honestly have never sat there. Don't know, but I believe those who say it does. But for all the bitching on here about not coming to games bc they would have to sit there is bs. I cant think of one time beside super bulldog weekend and the regional where that was true. Excuses excuses. Fact is if u don't have seats now, in whatever we do w the stadium, odds are you won't have any then either. Unless u pony up big time. Hope you do.

Is there really no more waiting until the fifth inning? If so, I wasn't aware of it, and they should publicize that more.

Even if you can sit in the grandstand the whole game now, there's a stigma attached with this situation- it's been that way for a long time and it's something nobody wants to even deal with. Bottom Line: If people don't KNOW that they can get a seat in the grandstand, they aren't going to drive their entire family 2+ hours to go see a game if there's a chance they could get stuck in the bleachers- you would understand this if you've ever had to sit there.

And you honestly have no right to say that this is a "bs complaint" or "excuse"- the fact is, you have it WAY better than they do. You have no clue what it's like to sit there. None. Luckily I don't have to very often, but I know what it's like- and I know it's not a "bs excuse." How can you even attempt to criticize someone for not wanting to sit there when that you admit that you've never had to do it yourself? Unbelievable.

And yes, many of these same people who want to support Mississippi State baseball without having to sit in the bleachers would be willing to buy season tickets if they got good seats. The problem is, all the decent seats are bought up by life timers, and that's okay- but maybe there are some new people wanting to enjoy baseball at State too? Just because they didn't get in on the sweetheart, good-ole-boy deal in the 80s and have been sitting in the same seat in Dudy Noble for the past 25 years doesn't mean they should be left out in the cold. If we do this stadium thing the right way, there will be plenty of seats to go around and everyone can be happy. Have you ever thought about that?

[Todd4State]

Todd, you are way overstating the 7 inning affect on pitching. Many conferences had 7 inning doubleheaders back then. Polk just thought baseball was competitively a 9 inning game. Most pitchers didn't go 9 innings. Polks best years came during the 7 inning doubleheaders.

And do you disagree with Polk about baseball being a 9 inning sport? I don't. I think it should be a 9 innings in college.

You are correct that most pitchers typically don't go 9 innings, but if you do have one that has that ability you need to condition him to be able to do so. You didn't mention relief pitchers, but you have to take both types of pitchers into consideration even though pitchers that can go 9 innings in college is not the norm.

I'm not sure about many conferences having 7 vs. 9 innings back in the 80's- but the postseason has been 9 innings for as long as I can remember. Because of that, if your pitchers are conditioned to handle that normally, it's less of an adjustment. There's a reason why there are no major conferences that play 7- and that's why.

And then there are pro baseball considerations. Scouts are going to tell high school pitchers not to go to college because of what I am talking about- and that will cause a few of the elite pitchers to not come to college throughout the league.

By saying "Polk's best years came during the 7 inning DH" you seem to be suggesting that we somehow had an advantage by playing them. The reason we had a lot of success during that era was because Polk was hungry and better than most of the coaches of that era save for Bertman. We had a lot of talent- and that's why we won more often than not. Not because playing 7 innings somehow gave us an advantage.

[Todd4State]

I'm confused about one thing, our crowds for most sec weekends were poor in the grandstand. And everyone is talking about sight lines and the such. But for over a year you could go and sit in the grandstand in an empty seat Wo any questions. No more waiting until the 5th inning or anything. I get it the bleachers suck during a big weekend or regional. I honestly have never sat there. Don't know, but I believe those who say it does. But for all the bitching on here about not coming to games bc they would have to sit there is bs. I cant think of one time beside super bulldog weekend and the regional where that was true. Excuses excuses. Fact is if u don't have seats now, in whatever we do w the stadium, odds are you won't have any then either. Unless u pony up big time. Hope you do.

To my understanding- the fifth inning migration rule doesn't apply for midweek games and it may be OOC games. SEC games the rule is still in effect.

[Todd4State]

Is there really no more waiting until the fifth inning? If so, I wasn't aware of it, and they should publicize that more.

Even if you can sit in the grandstand the whole game now, there's a stigma attached with this situation- it's been that way for a long time and it's something nobody wants to even deal with. Bottom Line: If people don't KNOW that they can get a seat in the grandstand, they aren't going to drive their entire family 2+ hours to go see a game if there's a chance they could get stuck in the bleachers- you would understand this if you've ever had to sit there.

And you honestly have no right to say that this is a "bs complaint" or "excuse"- the fact is, you have it WAY better than they do. You have no clue what it's like to sit there. None. Luckily I don't have to very often, but I know what it's like- and I know it's not a "bs excuse." How can you even attempt to criticize someone for not wanting to sit there when that you admit that you've never had to do it yourself? Unbelievable.

And yes, many of these same people who want to support Mississippi State baseball without having to sit in the bleachers would be willing to buy season tickets if they got good seats. The problem is, all the decent seats are bought up by life timers, and that's okay- but maybe there are some new people wanting to enjoy baseball at State too? Just because they didn't get in on the sweetheart, good-ole-boy deal in the 80s and have been sitting in the same seat in Dudy Noble for the past 25 years doesn't mean they should be left out in the cold. If we do this stadium thing the right way, there will be plenty of seats to go around and everyone can be happy. Have you ever thought about that?

There should be a policy change. I think the honor code would work out fine. I buy a GA ticket and if I want to sit in a grandstand seat that is vacant, I sit there. If the season ticket holder comes up later and reasonably proves that is his seat- like by showing me his ticket- I move to another vacant seat. I would rather move 2-3 times before the game or early in the game than have to migrate. Everyone should be respectful of one another.

If they build a new grandstand, everyone in theory should have a chairback seat. Unless they install some bleachers somewhere, which I don't think will happen.

The seating licenses have unfortunately created a sense of entitlement amongst a lot of the people that sit there. "This is MY seat- is has MY name on it." It has caused us a lot of problems and issues that we are now having to deal with. It was just a very short-sighted poorly thought out program. Really, it's a too good to be true deal when you think about it.

[bully99]

Todd, what I'm talking about is the 7 inning games were mostly irrelevant to who won or lost unless you had a weak pitching staff. Most games were still 9 inning games.

The sec was 10 teams back then. You had a east and a west division. Each team played the other 4 teams in their division 6 times. 3 home and 3 road games. You played 24 games and 16 were 7 inning games. That means about 40 of your games were 9 inning games. No depth pitching staffs actually benefitted from sevens. So Polk probably was helped by his lack of depth.

When the sec went away from the two 7 games, they actually went for a few years to one 9 and one 7,before finally going to all 9 games.

Bertman always was helped by his deep pitching staff, something Polk usually lacked.

Yes I like 9 inning games.

[Todd4State]

Todd, what I'm talking about is the 7 inning games were mostly irrelevant to who won or lost unless you had a weak pitching staff. Most games were still 9 inning games.

The sec was 10 teams back then. You had a east and a west division. Each team played the other 4 teams in their division 6 times. 3 home and 3 road games. You played 24 games and 16 were 7 inning games. That means about 40 of your games were 9 inning games. No depth pitching staffs actually benefitted from sevens. So Polk probably was helped by his lack of depth.

When the sec went away from the two 7 games, they actually went for a few years to one 9 and one 7,before finally going to all 9 games.

Bertman always was helped by his deep pitching staff, something Polk usually lacked.

Yes I like 9 inning games.

Yes, I totally agree that if you have less pitching depth playing fewer innings helps you in conference play. But the problem is when postseason play comes around. You are correct about 9 inning games against midweek and then the single SEC game- but playing 9 innings against Mississppi College and Belhaven doesn't help us very much when we had to play Texas or North Carolina in the postseason and we had to play them 9 innings. Two of our top three starters weren't going more than seven innings ever.

Playing seven inning games might help us get to the regional and host it- but going beyond that it didn't really do us any favors as far as winning the whole thing.

But I don't fault Polk at all for voting to go to 9 inning games. Because to me, playing 9 innings helps us- regardless of who the coach is- to win a championship. Even if we blow out someone and we pitch someone like Preston Brown for an inning or two in SEC play- that's more valuable to me than him pitching 5-6 against Grambling. We play a 7 inning game and blow someone out- he probably doesn't get that opportunity.

It goes beyond pitching too- you handle your bench differently in a 7 inning game vs a 9 and you handle it differently in a DH than you do for one game. Most people don't like to catch the same catcher for both ends of a DH, and that can change things if you have a guy like an Ed Easley that you really would like to have out there for all three games. There's just a lot of little things like that.

[ScottH]

The seating licenses have unfortunately created a sense of entitlement amongst a lot of the people that sit there. "This is MY seat- is has MY name on it." It has caused us a lot of problems and issues that we are now having to deal with. It was just a very short-sighted poorly thought out program. Really, it's a too good to be true deal when you think about it.

"This is MY seat- is has MY name on it." - For any one season, it is. But I get your point.

"It has caused us a lot of problems and issues that we are now having to deal with" - What problems and issues?

"It was just a very short-sighted poorly thought out program." - Not when originally put in place. It was probably ACCIDENTALLY pretty smart. It has kept Dudy Noble chairbacks sold out for 25+ years. Think of the environment 25 years ago. Not the current one. Few stadiums had Personal Seat Licenses in 1986. Certainly no college baseball stadiums. It definitely should have been structured differently (annual or limited multi year) in retrospect but also looking in the rearview mirror it was pretty successful idea. And now needs an overhaul.

The common frustration I read is vacant premium seats. To me, thats not a Lifetime Chairback problem but primarily a function of the lack of an effective mechanism to move asses into those seats when vacant.

When a new stadium is built and the seating priority is based on BDC points plus an annual seat fee, how does the problem of empty seats in prime chairback areas go away? ( I am not talking about enough chairbacks but the premium ones having folks in them)

The "dugout to dugout" chairbacks will still be occupied by the top BDC point members. A rough guess puts "dugout to dugout" chairbacks in the #1000 rank BDC giving numbers. And those won't be at Dudy Noble at many weekend series just like they aren't now.

Same Problem. We have to have an effective way to get folks into unused seats.

Todd (and maybe a good board survey question) how much should an Annual Personal Seat License fee in the new stadium be on top of any BDC donation you make and a $250 season ticket? $0, $50, $100, $250, $500? $750 $1000 Let's assume the seat is First base Mid-dugout 20 rows up.

[engie]

Coach, fair point. But how do you think they are now going to get those seats? Guess what of they don't have priority they aren't getting them now either. Now meaning in a new grandstand.

Eta, they might not want to come on a "hope" but for the past 10 + years it wouldnt be a hope it hasn't been full except in the aforementioned weekends. So one could know seats were available. And available every single day of every single weekend.

Being "full" and "sold out" are two very, VERY different things at MSU.

[engie]

Is there really no more waiting until the fifth inning? If so, I wasn't aware of it, and they should publicize that more.

Even if you can sit in the grandstand the whole game now, there's a stigma attached with this situation- it's been that way for a long time and it's something nobody wants to even deal with. Bottom Line: If people don't KNOW that they can get a seat in the grandstand, they aren't going to drive their entire family 2+ hours to go see a game if there's a chance they could get stuck in the bleachers- you would understand this if you've ever had to sit there.

And you honestly have no right to say that this is a "bs complaint" or "excuse"- the fact is, you have it WAY better than they do. You have no clue what it's like to sit there. None. Luckily I don't have to very often, but I know what it's like- and I know it's not a "bs excuse." How can you even attempt to criticize someone for not wanting to sit there when that you admit that you've never had to do it yourself? Unbelievable.

And yes, many of these same people who want to support Mississippi State baseball without having to sit in the bleachers would be willing to buy season tickets if they got good seats. The problem is, all the decent seats are bought up by life timers, and that's okay- but maybe there are some new people wanting to enjoy baseball at State too? Just because they didn't get in on the sweetheart, good-ole-boy deal in the 80s and have been sitting in the same seat in Dudy Noble for the past 25 years doesn't mean they should be left out in the cold. If we do this stadium thing the right way, there will be plenty of seats to go around and everyone can be happy. Have you ever thought about that?

Exactly.

I haven't sat in those bleachers in almost a decade. But I remember EXACTLY what it was like. And it prevented me from going to many games during my actual time at MSU unless my frat buddies were going to be in the lounges.