Is college baseball big in your burg?

[coxfan]

Here at the U of South Carolina, college baseball is big-time. We averaged over 7,000 fans per home game last year, which was 3rd in the US. Our fabulous stadium, which has a wrap-around concourse that allows one to see the game from every angle except right behind the batter's eye, seats 8,242 and is often sold out. Paul LoDuca, in commenting for an ESPN game here, said it was better than 90% of the minor-league stadiums he had seen.

But it seems like most college baseball teams have tiny turnouts, with attendances in the hundreds at best. That's surprising, since many MLB players starred in college: eg David Price, Tim Hudson, Buster Posey, Robin Ventura, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and hundreds of others going back to Lou Gehrig. (As late as the 1970's, even U of SC and UGA had only about 50 fans/game; UGA now is in the low thousands.)

So what's baseball like at your favorite college?

[coxfan]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

By the way, I realized right after posting that I'd put this in the wrong forum. ( It was meant for "General Sports Discussion.")

[frikativ54]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

"In your burg"??? Never heard that expression before; please explain.

[godwulf]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Both at Arizona State and the U of A, not only is college Baseball very big, but so is women's softball. Because of the weather here, both sports are played virtually year-round at some level, and tend to be quite popular at all levels.

[coxfan]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Probably should be "burgh" for "town"-as in Pittsburgh, etc. I guess it's an old expression not used much now; but it was once understood as a slang term for city or town.

[Rob L]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Here in Orange County, CA we have the Fullerton Titans and the Irvine Anteaters. Just outside of our border are the Long Beach Dirtbags, so yeah, it's pretty big around here.

[sparky39762]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

I live in Starkville, MS - home of Mississippi State - and baseball is huge around here. Several publications in the past have dubbed Dudy Noble Field as the best place in the country to watch college baseball.

Grills in the Left Field Lounge (but really from LF corner to RC) going in the outfield means tons of food and drink for all - it's basically a smaller version of a football tailgate in the outfield.

My son (2.5 yrs old) will be throwing out a first pitch later in the year. He also threw one out last year. Really looking forward to that since he's really starting to get into baseball.

[coxfan]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

I appreciate hearing from programs where fan support is strong. But I'm also curious about places where it's not. For example, UCONN made the Super-Regionals (the "sweet sixteen") played at South Carolina in 2011, and had two very high draft picks. But when I later spoke to two UCONN fans I happened to meet a few months later in different places (one wearing a UCONN sweatshirt), neither of them had any knowledge of their baseball team's success.

You wouldn't find that here in Columbia, where all sports fans who've lived here at least two years know about gamecock baseball. In fact, our two National Championships were celebrated with parades that had more than 40,000 spectators, although the parades were on weekdays.

But there are at least 60 schools where baseball is high-priority, per "USA Today". But attendance stats indicate that at least 40 of those 60 have little fan support. And there are about 230 other Division 1 baseball programs who must have few fans.

So I'm interested in hearing from programs that have little fan support despite competitive success.

[ousooner_85]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Here in Oklahoma its not the draw that it used to be back in the Big 8 days with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Sooners have been pretty decent lately and have a solid team this year. The Bedlam Series with Oklahoma State (which typically brings in 9-12 thousand fans) plays Friday night in Tulsa at AA Tulsa Drillers Stadium and the Saturday/Sunday games are played in Oklahoma City at AAA Redhawks ballpark. Outside this series there aren't many big crowds.

[sox83cubs84]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

You mean college baseball exists in the Chicago area?

Dave Miedema

[mdube16]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

The Miami Hurricanes are big here in baseball. Ive been going to games since 1986 and its a big deal locally, although not as much interest in football (or this years basketball team.) I would say I enjoy going to college baseball more than any other sporting event. Its very family oriented.

[coxfan]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Thanks for the replies, but they were overwhelmingly from big-time programs. Does that mean that small-time college baseball programs have so few fans that they're not on GUU?

College baseball has a long history going back to the 1850's. But through the 1970's it had very little fan interest except for a handful of places. When my wife and I walked to UGA baseball games in the 70's, it was the same field as today, but no stadium; only a couple of bleachers with 25-40 fans at most. ( My wife and I both recall that home plate was about where the first-base dugout is today.) I'm told it was the same at South Carolina until ex-Yankee All-Star Bobby Richardson came in as head coach and demanded permanent seats, and took the Gamecocks to a # 2 national finish. Today with ESPN, etc., college baseball crowds are as loud and partisan as they are at basketball games, in the places where baseball's big.

[kellsox]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Only friend and families in the northeast. Sitting out in the cold watching college kids play with metal bats isn't exactly appealing to many. Plus plenty of minor/major league teams to follow and attend games of.

[coxfan]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Given the cold-weather problem Kellsox noted, it's remarkable that northern teams did as well as they did over the decades with college seasons starting in February. For example, Yale finished second at the first-ever College World Series in 1947, with future President Bush (the older) playing first and making the last out. And there were many other examples of successful college baseball programs in the North, though there's much less of that today.

The competition between college and minor-league clubs can indeed be a problem. Here in Columbia, SC we had a strong minor-league program with the Mets' Class-A affiliate. But when the U of South Carolina went to the College World Series for three straight years, (2002-04) with national finishes of #2, #5-6, and #3 respectively, attendance at the minor-league park only a half-mile from the Gamecocks' stadium dropped so much the minor leagues had to leave. It didn't help that the University refused to let the Minors share in their projected new baseball stadium, saying they thought ties to pro sports hurt the college athletics. By the time the fabulous new college stadium was built, the minors were long gone.

[jtrinaldi]

Re: Is college baseball big in your burg?

Given the cold-weather problem Kellsox noted, it's remarkable that northern teams did as well as they did over the decades with college seasons starting in February. For example, Yale finished second at the first-ever College World Series in 1947, with future President Bush (the older) playing first and making the last out. And there were many other examples of successful college baseball programs in the North, though there's much less of that today.

The competition between college and minor-league clubs can indeed be a problem. Here in Columbia, SC we had a strong minor-league program with the Mets' Class-A affiliate. But when the U of South Carolina went to the College World Series for three straight years, (2002-04) with national finishes of #2, #5-6, and #3 respectively, attendance at the minor-league park only a half-mile from the Gamecocks' stadium dropped so much the minor leagues had to leave. It didn't help that the University refused to let the Minors share in their projected new baseball stadium, saying they thought ties to pro sports hurt the college athletics. By the time the fabulous new college stadium was built, the minors were long gone.

I did a roadtrip 2 years ago to watch SEC baseball, and it was an amazing experience. Went to the Vandy vs USC game where Vandy went through 4 pitchers in an inning, and USC rallied to win. Definitely an experience I won't forget, the Stadium is AMAZING...and that is an understatement. Also went into nashville for Vandy vs. LSU and watched Sunny Grey pitch a gem.