Foley Field Needs a Facelift

to put an exclamation point on our need for expansion. The Diamond Dawgs broke the season record for attendance again this year, without even needing any NCAA games to do it. We sold out every SEC game except for the Vandy games, which were a product of school being out and the team completely tanking, if I remember correctly.

I think we need to be expanding down the lines. If money isn’t a concern, we should go down both lines. We can put the bullpen/cages underneath the stands down the right field line (though the bullpen would still be open to the field) and add another 1k or so seats there. We also need to clean up kudzu hill a little, possibly laying concrete down low and building a retaining wall to prevent any further erosion of the hill (there has been a lot of dirt lost there this decade. Keep it as a GA seating area where folks can bring lawn chairs and all, just clean it up a little.

Down the left field line, we should expand down with around 10-12 rows of reserved chairbacks (maybe all the way, maybe just until the visitors bullpen/storage shed) and then a flat pavilion area behind them. This would allow standing room for fans who want to walk around, room for new concessions (badly needed), and an area for little kids to run around who can’t sit still during the game. These changes would probably bring us up to around 5-6k seats, right where we need to be (we’ll never be able to compete with LSU/Ole Miss/Arkansas/MSU by bringing in 9-10k for every SEC game because there are simply too many other things to do in N. GA). This would put us on par or ahead of other facilities in the SEC East and better than most in the ACC.

If money is an issue, I say just do the left field line expansion and put up a retaining wall of some sort on the hill. You’d still add a good 1k or so in seating capacity and could do the other stuff later.

Also, I’ll be interested to see if we start playing any midweek games in Gwinnett. It would be nice to play a Georgia State or Mercer-type game there to get some more metro ATL folks involved that normally wouldn’t. The other thought would be to play a higher-profile game (don’t give up the Tech or Clemson home games) against someone like FSU or UNC early in the season. That would probably sell out the park. Perhaps we could do a UNC midweek series where they play us in Gwinnett and we play them in Durham.

I somewhat doubt that the administration would consider home field advantage as a factor. I can remember when Kudzu Hill was truly Kudzu Hill, when a sunday afternoon game would have a throng of students with coolers of beer, kegs, grills, and other assorted tailgating items beyond the right field fence. At that point in time, a visiting right fielder in Foley Field had to be one of the least envious places to be in the conference. From megaphones for heckling to general drunken shenanigans, the place was fun. The students knew it gave the team an advantage, the players knew, David Perno knew. I think most everyone with the exception of Michael Adams understood the importance of keeping Kudzu Hill as it was, but now it’s family friendly Kudzu Hill. The houses above it have done an ample job of replacing it, but it’s simply not the same. Kyle, my main question is this (and I’m sure you remember the craziness that was Kudzu Hill after many super regional victories): Do you honestly think protecting home field advantage or saving something that gives a stadium its own unique feel is relevant at all to the people who will make this decision? I, for one, doubt it. I think the best thing Kudzu Hill and the houses above it have going for them right now is the fact that it would be much more expensive to shift the stadium. It would be a shame to abandon the things that give Foley Field character in an attempt to get a more aesthetically pleasing view for the batter of…Stegeman?

The owners of the houses reeled the kids in this year. There hasn’t been a party up there in probably 2 months. The Hill’s days are numbered as well.

Expansion needs to happen.
1. turn the bullpens from running along the foul lines to perpendicular and move them towards the warning track. that would give you room to add 2-3 more sections along the sides. But that wouldn’t buy you 1,500 seats total.

2. Remove the road between Foley and Butts-Mehre. This is in the plan anyway. Then go up with stands on the 3rd base side. You can’t change the height of the 1st base side without getting into imminent domain issues with the road and duplexes below those stands.

3. Add seats down extending to the field. This would require moving the entire playing field out and towards the parking lot by 10-20 feet. Virtually eliminating the opportunity for Kudzu hill seating. But it would add 500+ quality seats along the foul lines.

4. Remove the Trees and add a large grand stand area in Left. You could add another 1k there pretty easy. That + the other stuff above would pretty easily add 3k. The current official capacity is only 3200 now. So it would get us closer to 6k.

5. CREATE A FRIGGIN STUDENT SECTION! The students have been non-existent this season. The tickets sold out before they could get their hands on them.