I think we should play more midweek games at Trustmark......

[Goat Holder]

Thinking about DNF and crowds and what not, I came up with this solution. At least two more than we do now with the Gov Cup and the USM game. Even if they are single games. That way the team won’t miss much school, and we can play in front of big crowds (that won’t be there in Starkville, for obvious reasons). But we should NEVER play a weekend home series anywhere besides Starkville. Period. And I don’t think we need to play football in Jackson either, after more thought. 2013 weekday games:

Grambling State - Starkville
Rhode Island (2 games) - Starkville
MS Valley State - Starkville
Southern Miss – Pearl
Alcorn State – Starkville
Austin Peay – Starkville
South Alabama – Mobile
Ole Miss – Pearl
Memphis – Autozone
Oral Roberts – Starkville

I like playing in Mobile and Memphis, so I’d rather keep those series, for the fans on the Coast and in Memphis. But really no reason to not play at least 3 of those Starkville teams in Pearl. Valley, Grambling and Alcorn. Less drive for everyone. On seasons where we don't go to Mobile, I wouldn't mind seeing a game in Birmingham vs. UAB/Samford at Regions Field downtown.

I especially like playing 4 games per weekend early too, that gives fans more for their money when they travel up for the weekend.

[ShotgunDawg]

Thinking about DNF and crowds and what not, I came up with this solution. At least two more than we do now with the Gov Cup and the USM game. Even if they are single games. That way the team won?t miss much school, and we can play in front of big crowds (that won?t be there in Starkville, for obvious reasons). But we should NEVER play a weekend home series anywhere besides Starkville. Period. And I don?t think we need to play football in Jackson either, after more thought. 2013 weekday games:

Grambling State - Starkville
Rhode Island (2 games) - Starkville
MS Valley State - Starkville
Southern Miss ? Pearl
Alcorn State ? Starkville
Austin Peay ? Starkville
South Alabama ? Mobile
Ole Miss ? Pearl
Memphis ? Autozone
Oral Roberts ? Starkville

I like playing in Mobile and Memphis, so I?d rather keep those series, for the fans on the Coast and in Memphis. But really no reason to not play at least 3 of those Starkville teams in Pearl. Valley, Grambling and Alcorn. Less drive for everyone. On seasons where we don't go to Mobile, I wouldn't mind seeing a game in Birmingham vs. UAB/Samford at Regions Field downtown.

I especially like playing 4 games per weekend early too, that gives fans more for their money when they travel up for the weekend.

This makes sense on paper, but baseball is a long exhausting sport with many games. The less amount of times that our team has to get on a bus a drive 2 hours, the better. You have to take that into account. If we start playing mid-week games in Jackson, then thats more road trips, not road games. Road trips are tiring. Perhaps the balance would work, but I'm more about our team staying fresh and winning at the end of the season, than I am about them playing in front of a few more big crowds.

Road trips are exhausting and catch up with you later in the season. The fewer the better.

[Goat Holder]

Good point, and that's really the point of the thread, to see the pros and cons of it, because like you said, on paper it sounds great. Of course there's the part about how much of the gate proceeds MSU would get, if any.

But remember, 3 of those cities (Memphis/Birmingham/Jackson) are just 2 hours away. That's not a tough road trip, that's a day trip.

[State82]

I would love that since it would allow me to see a weekday game I normally would not. The travel issue mentioned by ShotgunDawg is certainly a downside for the team, but if it could be done during spring break maybe we could even play a DH at Trustmark.

[Dawgdom]

Since I live in the Free State I'm OK with this.

[Todd4State]

When the baseball team plays in Pearl, it's pretty much an all day deal for them. The schedule varies, but usually they are in Jackson by noon if not earlier. Sometimes we use Hinds CC's baseball field to practice on but I'm not sure if we do that every time we play in Jackson. The games usually end between 10-10:30 and the bus won't leave until about an hour or so after that. That means that they are getting back to Starkville around 1:30 and back to their apartment around 2-2:30 or so. And then they have to go to class the next day.

With the travel costs and possibly a fee to play at Trustmark Park- I don't think it would save us anything or be that helpful. I also think it would actually hurt the attendance at those games because part of the reason that the games draw so well in Pearl is because of the novelty of State being in town and playing. Plus, we're usually playing USM or Ole Miss rather than Rhode Island.

The solution is to market the games in Starkville to the college kids better because they are the ones that are actually there and can go to them. Part of the issue is we front load the schedule which means most of our home midweek games are in February. Most of our fans are still into basketball or just don't want to sit out in the cold.

Now, all that said- I wouldn't mind if we played one more game at Trustmark Park. Someone like Louisiana-Monroe. Also, I think we are probably going to be playing some midweek games in Biloxi once that new stadium gets built by the Beau Rivage. I don't know who we would play, but my guess is South Alabama. We have a really good relationship with their team and I could see them being willing to play there. USM is probably going to want to play us there, but I would prefer to just play them in Jackson. I can't see us playing Ole Miss there since we play them four times already, but you never know. And of course there are the New Orleans schools like UNO and Tulane, but if I were running that stadium, I would try to set up a midweek game between MSU/LSU there as well as Ole Miss/LSU. So, one way or the other, I envision us playing a couple more midweek games away from Starkville any way.

[Goat Holder]

Good points.

My main focus is to keep the crowds up and to play in fertile recruiting areas. Taking advantage of these nice minor league ballparks is a plus too. And it gives the kids a chance to get used to playing on the road, even if we still are technically at home.

[Todd4State]

Good points.

My main focus is to keep the crowds up and to play in fertile recruiting areas. Taking advantage of these nice minor league ballparks is a plus too. And it gives the kids a chance to get used to playing on the road, even if we still are technically at home.

That's why I'm fired up about the stadium in Biloxi. For the first time ever, we will be able to bring MSU baseball to a part of the state we have never played in before. It's going to help our recruiting for baseball and the university as well. It will help our RPI a little bit too. If we can schedule LSU there, it will help our RPI out a lot.