Home from work stadium thoughts

[Todd4State]

I've been posting from work some, but I thought this might get long and they don't want to pay me OT to post on Elitedawgs.

Where to start? AWESOME. I'll be honest- I was kind of worried that I wanted so much that I was going to be let down. But the Boerner-Weir architecture team not only met- they exceeded my expectations. It has everything I asked for with a condo. Everything is cool.

I'm going to start with the Hall of Fame entrance. I LOVE the MS logo. I'm curious to see who the honor and also how they honor them. This will help with recruiting a lot because it's a visual image of the greats that played at MSU, but it's also the first thing you see. It shows how important baseball is to MSU. It's also important because it's going to educate fans about the tradition that we have. Dad's can point to Will Clark or Renfroe or whoever and it's something that's going to stand out in the mind of a child, and also fans of all ages. Another interesting thing is the mystery statue in the plaza on the plans. Ron Polk? Maybe this will be a way to mend the fences with him a little bit? Honestly, though I think it would be cool if it was a statue sort of like what's in front of TD Ameritrade where it's several baseball baseball players. The bad thing is, you may not be able to tell who is who.

Now the other ticket window. What an upgrade! Honestly, in the renderings it reminds me a little bit of the outside of Busch Stadium. Maybe they did that for me? LOL. I wonder if it's going to still remind me of that when I see the finished project. It's going to look really good.

The grandstand. It reminds me a lot of Sway....seriously it reminds me a lot of Autozone Park. So, Memphis has more of a gripe with us ripping them off than Ole Miss does. But the reason it reminds me a lot of Autozone is because in Memphis they have the tiered decks and then the skyboxes above that. It looks to me like the skyboxes will be at the back of the second section rather than above, but the two decks remind me a lot of Autozone. I like that for a couple of reasons. It gives fans a better chance to get better seats closer to the action. I think it will also help with one of our problems which has been the empty grandstand issue. The reason I think it will help is because with a tiered deck, you won't see the back of the first section as well on TV and you also have more people concentrated in the middle of the stadium, which is what you see on TV for much of the game. So, I think the tiered deck will make the stadium look more full. From what Scott said today, it sounds like we will give the Lifetime ticket people priority which is fine, but what I hope happens is they start to keep track of how many games these people are going to and sit them accordingly based on that. That way, the people that go to more games can be in the middle and get better seats and then those that come as much can be spread out around the stadium. And that way the people that actually come to the game can have an opportunity at better seats.

What we don't see is the concourse. And that's probably because they really don't know what is going to go there yet as far as food vendors go. I think Mugshots is already selling burgers at Dudy-Noble, and then there are some others. But maybe Penn's will make a comeback at the ballpark now that they have a new restaurant opening up in Starkville so we can have some catfish or chicken on a stick? I'm sure there will be a pizza vendor like Papa John's or somebody, maybe Lil Dooey, there's a lot of things. I'm kind of glad they left that out because it leaves some mystery.

I like the small grass berms. I think that will work a lot better for SR's than the bleachers IMO. It's just a little bit more room to spread out. I've been to sell out games at some of these minor league stadiums that have berms as well as Dudy-Noble and overall it's just a little bit more comfortable on the berm to me than the bleachers.

Now the LFL. I really like what I see on the renderings because I think the LFL will still be able to retain being unique but at the same time it's going to be safer. And it seems to me like they have maybe made it bigger, which to me means that maybe more people will be able to enjoy the outfield overall. That remains to be seen. Now, I love the Lofts. That was an awesome idea. Like Smitty said, it's a lot like Wrigley Field at Chicago. A lot of people may know this, but at Wrigley Field, the buildings that you see are actually for large groups of people. I think some of them are the roofs of pubs and things like that. So, it may be that people lease the LFL Lofts for the weekend where you can bring a party of a bunch of people for the game? It will be interesting to see. Maybe people live there? I can't wait to see Austin Riley launch a ball over the Loft. "Well, he just lofted that one." I assume they will have a more designated student section in right field. The scoreboard looks massive too.

And like I said, this is just the big picture. We really didn't get to see all the details like the clubhouse for the players, and some of the other smaller things. I do believe it's possible to build this without having to play our games off site. Doing it in stages makes a lot of sense. We have a functional baseball field in place already and that is going to save some time as well save for a few things like the bullpen is obviously going to be moved. But because I have seen this, I have no doubt that the details are going to be just as awesome as the big picture items.

Obviously, as we know as well as anyone else facilities by themselves don't win a NC. But they don't hurt either. Personally, if I was a prospect that was draftable, I would rather play at a place like the Dudy-Noble than some of these Appalachain League ballparks. And if they're good enough, they can move through the minors pretty quickly like Lindgren and Renfroe. Just the fact that this is all over twitter and you have Kendall Rogers tweeting about it, that's great exposure for us.

To sum this up, what Scott and the architects did was like Thor with his hammer hitting the ground and blowing stuff up. That's what they just did to Swayze Field.

[ShotgunDawg]

You work?

I think the design in awesome. It reminds me of a smaller version of Wrigley Field, with two decks and light standards on top of the roof.

http://a4.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0122/chi_wrigley_renderings_11.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3494/3917638782_f14ef90361.jpg

Texas A&M is also similar with the two decks, berms, and brick outside. The New Dudy Noble makes it look like a 2nd grade art project though.

http://media.247sports.com/Uploads/Institution/24029/6_401722.JPG

http://www.aggienetwork.com/media/wallpaper/Facebook/Facebook-Timeline-Olson-Field.jpg

DUDY NOBLE FIELD

If you look at the roof shape and light standards on top, the new Dudy Noble has some design characteristics that are straight from Wrigley Field
http://www.cdispatch.com/images/articles/l_urjyr812201452536PM.jpg

[The Federalist Engineer]

This is the best baseball stadium in the WORLD, that's all I can say. This is the field of dreams.

[messageboardsuperhero]

To me, the grandstand looks like a combination of the best parts of Autozone Park and Blue Bell Park, with a little bit of Wrigley Field thrown in. I really have no damn clue where Yancy and the rest of the UM people are getting the Swayze Field comparisons- I don't see that at all. Honestly, they're just trying to piss on our parade, so don't pay that shit any attention.

There are so many little things I like about these renderings. The positioning of the kid park is perfect- it's out of the way of the people in the grandstand who want to watch the game, but not too far away from parents who want to watch the game and keep an eye on their kids. The apartment loft is perfect. Just a fantastic idea, and it's something I've seen mentioned by people on message boards before. Lots of berm area for students/general admission. This stuff hasn't been totally ironed out into perfection yet, but it gives us a very good idea of where their minds are at.

And I agree about being excited about seeing the final details. If it's anything like the quality of what was released today (which it will be), then it's going to be really really cool. I am beyond pumped about this. It's something many of us have been wanting for a long time.

[ShotgunDawg]

I'm going to be really interested to see the details:

1. What's the concourse going to look like?

2. What type of "baseball facilities" will there be and what will they look like? This includes: Lockeroom, batting cages, film room, training room, player's lounge

etc..

[Todd4State]

I can definitely see some Wrigley Field things, but then we also have the Pesky Pole that I totally forgot to talk about.

[Todd4State]

I'm going to be really interested to see the details:

1. What's the concourse going to look like?

2. What type of "baseball facilities" will there be and what will they look like? This includes: Lockeroom, batting cages, film room, training room, player's lounge

etc..

I suspect that some of those baseball facilities are in the Palmeiro Center. But they did say that there is a possibility of some coach's offices there, so we'll find out later on.

[engie]

Anyone comparing it to Swayze is a f'n moron. It would have been similar to Swayze had we tore out the skyboxes and pressbox and redone that -- and extended the grandstands down the foul lines with the current strucuture...

This has practically zero similarity to Swayze in any damn way. Doesn't even borrow their idea of tiers in the outfield for a student section as heavily as I suspected it would...

[ShotgunDawg]

I can definitely see some Wrigley Field things, but then we also have the Pesky Pole that I totally forgot to talk about.

It's just an excellent design. It draws from the history and tradition of baseball and also from MSU's baseball tradition, and somehow still has a uniqueness all it's own without being a complete knockoff of another park.

You mentioned the Pesky pole in right, it's my experience that the best parks are the ones that have such outstanding details that you are always finding something new.

The designers knocked this one out of the park. So far out of the park actually that, no matter how much money a school pumps into their stadium to try and match it, this design is so perfect and awesome that it's almost unreachable.

It's just like Camden Yards and AT&T Park in San Francisco. The Yankees, Padres, Cardinals, Twins, Brewers, Marlins, and Philadelphia, have all built new stadiums since that those stadiums were built, but no one has actually been able to quite top them. Some designs are just perfect. Hopefully the product that is built, matches these renderings.

[ShotgunDawg]

Anyone comparing it to Swayze is a f'n moron. It would have been similar to Swayze had we tore out the skyboxes and pressbox and redone that -- and extended the grandstands down the foul lines with the current strucuture...

This has practically zero similarity to Swayze in any damn way. Doesn't even borrow their idea of tiers in the outfield for a student section as heavily as I suspected it would...

Come on Engie, you don't think these two parks look alike***

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8106/8619963395_b1a5625d3f_z.jpg

http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics33/1024/JA/JADDZKRSWDEJMLJ.20140812175730.jpg

[Todd4State]

It's just an excellent design. It draws from the history and tradition of baseball and also from MSU's baseball tradition, and somehow still has a uniqueness all it's own without being a complete knockoff of another park.

You mentioned the Pesky pole in right, it's my experience that the best parks are the ones that have such outstanding details that you are always finding something new.

The designers knocked this one out of the park. So far out of the park actually that, no matter how much money a school pumps into their stadium to try and match it, this design is so perfect and awesome that it's almost unreachable.

It's just like Camden Yards and AT&T Park in San Francisco. The Yankees, Padres, Cardinals, Twins, Brewers, Marlins, and Philadelphia, have all built new stadiums since that those stadiums were built, but no one has actually been able to quite top them. Some designs are just perfect. Hopefully the product that is built, matches these renderings.

Excellent post. And very good points.

[Todd4State]

Come on Engie, you don't think these two parks look alike***

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8106/8619963395_b1a5625d3f_z.jpg

http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics33/1024/JA/JADDZKRSWDEJMLJ.20140812175730.jpg

The irony is it looks like Ole Miss ripped off the Dudy-Noble that we're about to tear down.

[messageboardsuperhero]

The irony is it looks like Ole Miss ripped off the Dudy-Noble that we're about to tear down.

That really is the ultimate irony.

They thought they had perfected our original DNF idea from the 80s- then we decided to totally blow ours up and kick everyone else's ass.

[BossDawg]

Did I completely miss it or did they even say anything about a timeline? I've heard there's a possibility demo will start after next season. Anyone heard anything? Any speculations? Anyone?

[Dawg61]

I keep looking at the huge baseball logo MS entrance and the awesome Western Supply LFL loft buildings. Those two features are both ridiculously awesome!

[Todd4State]

Did I completely miss it or did they even say anything about a timeline? I've heard there's a possibility demo will start after next season. Anyone heard anything? Any speculations? Anyone?

I suppose it depends on how quickly we can raise 20 million dollars. Obviously, this kind of kicks that off. I'm not sure of the process behind that since I'm not a heavy hitter financially. I'm sure they will see if there are any big money people that want to donate, and they'll probably talk to some of our MLB people.

I would like to see them sell bricks- which is something that we've done before and they've done at Busch Stadium. You buy a brick and they engrave something in it like your name or your Dad's name or whatever. I'd much rather do that than have my name on a seat.

If I remember correctly, the Cardinals charged based on location and based on how much you wanted on the brick. For example, as far as location- if you wanted a brick by the Stan Musial statue in front of Busch Stadium, that's going to cost more than a random spot on the sidewalk. I think the bricks were limited up to four lines or something like that. I think it was like 100 bucks per line or something like that.

[Todd4State]

I keep looking at the huge baseball logo MS entrance and the awesome Western Supply LFL loft buildings. Those two features are both ridiculously awesome!

I can see the Western Supply building comp. It also, again reminds of Autozone where they have those apartments where you look into the ballpark.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Swayze looks like a F-ing dump compared to the New DNF

[bulldogcountry1]

I fully expected to wake up this morning only to find it was all a dream.

There's so many great details, and these are just renderings. I haven't seen anyone mention the Airstream vending trailers. Are those supposed to replace the ones we had to sell to go to Omaha? Either way, I love them.

[bulldogcountry1]

A couple of other thoughts:

-They keep referring to these renderings as the "master plan". To me, that typically translates into "long term best case scenario". Look at the campus master plan. I just hope we don't have to do this thing piecemeal or wind up with a stripped down version. I also wonder if the $40 million tag is the whole ball of wax. Seems on the low end when you consider the lofts.

-With the Palmeiro Center being right there, I wonder if it is necessary to include all the team-related amenties in the stadium - batting cages, offices, etc. Maybe that's a way to save some cash.

-There was a poster on here who assured us that money was no object and that we only had to make a few calls. Where is he now?

[Tbonewannabe]

I wonder if the loft is included since it will have leases involved. It would make its money back faster than through ticket sales.

[starkvegasdawg]

You work?

I think the design in awesome. It reminds me of a smaller version of Wrigley Field, with two decks and light standards on top of the roof.

http://a4.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0122/chi_wrigley_renderings_11.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3494/3917638782_f14ef90361.jpg

Texas A&M is also similar with the two decks, berms, and brick outside. The New Dudy Noble makes it look like a 2nd grade art project though.

http://media.247sports.com/Uploads/Institution/24029/6_401722.JPG

http://www.aggienetwork.com/media/wallpaper/Facebook/Facebook-Timeline-Olson-Field.jpg

DUDY NOBLE FIELD

If you look at the roof shape and light standards on top, the new Dudy Noble has some design characteristics that are straight from Wrigley Field
http://www.cdispatch.com/images/articles/l_urjyr812201452536PM.jpg

The condos in the outfield appear to be an homage to Wrigley and Camden yards. They look like the warehouse behind Camden but have the apartments like Wrigley.

[HoopsDawg]

A couple of other thoughts:

-They keep referring to these renderings as the "master plan". To me, that typically translates into "long term best case scenario". Look at the campus master plan. I just hope we don't have to do this thing piecemeal or wind up with a stripped down version. I also wonder if the $40 million tag is the whole ball of wax. Seems on the low end when you consider the lofts.

-With the Palmeiro Center being right there, I wonder if it is necessary to include all the team-related amenties in the stadium - batting cages, offices, etc. Maybe that's a way to save some cash.

-There was a poster on here who assured us that money was no object and that we only had to make a few calls. Where is he now?

The Palmerio Center is really a dump. I believe that was an Larry Templeton project.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

A couple of other thoughts:

-They keep referring to these renderings as the "master plan". To me, that typically translates into "long term best case scenario". Look at the campus master plan. I just hope we don't have to do this thing piecemeal or wind up with a stripped down version. I also wonder if the $40 million tag is the whole ball of wax. Seems on the low end when you consider the lofts.

-With the Palmeiro Center being right there, I wonder if it is necessary to include all the team-related amenties in the stadium - batting cages, offices, etc. Maybe that's a way to save some cash.

-There was a poster on here who assured us that money was no object and that we only had to make a few calls. Where is he now?

Im right here. They will fundraise immediately. You have to have a concept before you present it. The stadium will be done completely by 2017.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Im right here. They will fundraise immediately. You have to have a concept before you present it. The stadium will be done completely by 2017.

I'd listen to Ennis on this one... He's been pretty dead on about all this from the very beginning.

If you know anything about Scott Stricklin, it's that he's careful and not going to pull a Pete Boone and announce something that we can't fund. If we've announced this, I'm sure Scott already knows good and well about where the lion's share of this money is coming from.

[maroonmania]

I love everything about the design but there is one thing I don't really understand. If I'm seeing things right it looks like the "ring of honor" with the MS logo is actually encroaching into the fair territory of the baseball field. Looks like it juts out past the foul line and connects to the outfield wall. So would the "ring of honor" wall be considered part of the outfield wall? Will there be a foul pole where the foul line and the "ring of honor" wall meet? Interesting area there where that all comes together.

[ScoobaDawg]

I love everything about the design but there is one thing I don't really understand. If I'm seeing things right it looks like the "ring of honor" with the MS logo is actually encroaching into the fair territory of the baseball field. Looks like it juts out past the foul line and connects to the outfield wall. So would the "ring of honor" wall be considered part of the outfield wall? Will there be a foul pole where the foul line and the "ring of honor" wall meet? Interesting area there where that all comes together.

Thats true...and could be fixed easily by pulling it back..and could of been done before the design was released. THERE thats a valid point not to like. And yall said this thing was perfect...

[steeldawg]

I love everything about the design but there is one thing I don't really understand. If I'm seeing things right it looks like the "ring of honor" with the MS logo is actually encroaching into the fair territory of the baseball field. Looks like it juts out past the foul line and connects to the outfield wall. So would the "ring of honor" wall be considered part of the outfield wall? Will there be a foul pole where the foul line and the "ring of honor" wall meet? Interesting area there where that all comes together.

To me, it sits a good bit higher than the playing surface. If you look to the right, you can visualize what I'm talking about by the berm that goes beside it. I really think it'll sit behind the outfield wall and not affect the playing surface.

But if it did encroach into the playing surface, it'd have to be padded and foul lines added, just like in left field at Vanderbilt. But I think it sits far enough back that it won't come Into play.

[Todd4State]

I love everything about the design but there is one thing I don't really understand. If I'm seeing things right it looks like the "ring of honor" with the MS logo is actually encroaching into the fair territory of the baseball field. Looks like it juts out past the foul line and connects to the outfield wall. So would the "ring of honor" wall be considered part of the outfield wall? Will there be a foul pole where the foul line and the "ring of honor" wall meet? Interesting area there where that all comes together.

That's kind of a homage to Yankee Stadium and their Memorial Park. Right by the Pesky Pole.

[Dawg61]

Pesky is Fenway. Red Sox stadium and it looks to me like the ring of honor MS will be connected to the homerun wall in fair ground.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Dsc_6431_Pesky's_Pole.jpg

[ScoobaDawg]

To me, it sits a good bit higher than the playing surface. If you look to the right, you can visualize what I'm talking about by the berm that goes beside it. I really think it'll sit behind the outfield wall and not affect the playing surface.

But if it did encroach into the playing surface, it'd have to be padded and foul lines added, just like in left field at Vanderbilt. But I think it sits far enough back that it won't come Into play.


Its in fair territory. Check this picture out from 30 seconds into the video. shows the relation of the foul pole and the ring of honor and the outfield fence.
700


Another thing I just noticed the suites are finished under the roof down the 1st base line but there looks to be room for 2 or 3 more on the 3rd base roof side. Why not fill that in. Wont that create a mini wind tunnel of some sort. It looks like there is some openings to the arch on the back of the grandstand to allow air to follow through the tiered decks.

[maroonmania]

Its in fair territory. Check this picture out from 30 seconds into the video. shows the relation of the foul pole and the ring of honor and the outfield fence.
700


Another thing I just noticed the suites are finished under the roof down the 1st base line but there looks to be room for 2 or 3 more on the 3rd base roof side. Why not fill that in. Wont that create a mini wind tunnel of some sort. It looks like there is some openings to the arch on the back of the grandstand to allow air to follow through the tiered decks.

Good capture Scooba. Gonna be tricky as all get out for an OF to play a ball down in that corner. Definitely gives the field some uniqueness though.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Good capture Scooba. Gonna be tricky as all get out for an OF to play a ball down in that corner. Definitely gives the field some uniqueness though.

Yep, and it'll give our RFs an advantage, since they'll get to play with it every day. It would probably be good for them to put some padding on that wall though...

And I do love how unique it is.

[Tbonewannabe]

Yep, and it'll give our RFs an advantage, since they'll get to play with it every day. It would probably be good for them to put some padding on that wall though...

And I do love how unique it is.

Didn't Clemson win in a Super regional because we had some outfielders fall when they hit the warning track bump? Any advantage we can get.

[steeldawg]

Its in fair territory. Check this picture out from 30 seconds into the video. shows the relation of the foul pole and the ring of honor and the outfield fence.
700


Another thing I just noticed the suites are finished under the roof down the 1st base line but there looks to be room for 2 or 3 more on the 3rd base roof side. Why not fill that in. Wont that create a mini wind tunnel of some sort. It looks like there is some openings to the arch on the back of the grandstand to allow air to follow through the tiered decks.

Good catch. I didn't see that when I saw the video. That will make that corner hell to play.

[Todd4State]

Pesky is Fenway. Red Sox stadium and it looks to me like the ring of honor MS will be connected to the homerun wall in fair ground.



I probably wasn't very clear, but I was saying that it's ironic that we have a homage to Yankee Stadium right next to a homage to Fenway. I like it!