Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium

 

Click here to see Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium's on the MSU campus map.
Click here to see Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium's main grandstand seating diagram.

There is truly no place like home for Mississippi State's Baseball Bulldogs, especially when that home is Dudy Noble Field, one of the nation's top venues for college baseball.

The 2010 campaign marks the 44th season of baseball at the current site of Mississippi State baseball's on-campus home field, Dudy Noble Field. MSU first settled into Dudy Noble Field in 1967, and over the past four decades the facility has evolved into the nation's largest campus facility for college baseball and what many regard as the sport's finest all-around baseball complex.

Dudy Noble Field is the home to the top 13 and 21 of the top 25 largest on-campus baseball crowds. MSU has surpassed the 200,000 mark in paid attendance at Dudy Noble Field in five of the past eight seasons and in 2007 MSU topped the four million mark in home attendance since 1976, the first year seasonal fan attendance was charted.

The field is named in honor of longtime MSU baseball coach, athletic director and ABCA Hall of Famer Clarke Randolph "Dudy" Noble. And on April 27, 1998 the facility was renamed Dudy Noble Field,, honoring another ABCA Hall Polk-DeMent Stadium of Famer, former Bulldog skipper Ron Polk and the late Gordon DeMent, a successful businessman and longtime fan of the Baseball Bulldogs from Indianola, Miss.

Dudy Noble Field has twice hosted crowds in excess of 14,000, including an NCAA on-campus record 14,991 that watched the Bulldogs take on SEC Eastern Division rival Florida in a Saturday twinbill in 1989. The home of the Baseball Bulldogs has hosted crowds of 10,000 or better 22 times. MSU eclipsed the 10,000 mark in attendance three times in 2007, including NCAA Super Regional-record draws of 13,715 and 12,620 for nationally-televised late morning games against Clemson. Dudy Noble Field has served as the home to seven Southeastern Conference championship teams, has twice hosted NCAA District III tournaments (1973 and 1974), five SEC tournaments (1979, 1981, 1983, 1988 and 1995), 11 NCAA Regional tournaments (1979, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2000 and 2003) and in 2007 its first NCAA Super Regional.

From 1929 until 1964, Mississippi State hosted its baseball games at the original on-campus site for Dudy Noble Field several hundred yards to the south of Scott Field, State's football stadium. The baseball field was closed following the 1964 season to make way for the construction of Dorman Hall. And for the next two seasons, while a "new" Dudy Noble Field was being built, the Diamond Dogs played their home games in Columbus at Redbird Park. State captured SEC titles both seasons at their Columbus home. Meanwhile, the tin-roofed grandstand and 2,000-seat bleachers at the old field were moved to the stadium's present site, which became playable for the 1967 season.

Facility enhancements have followed a steady pace over the years ever since. In 1971, thanks to the generosity of the late E.B., a former MSU baseball player and "Dutch" McCool one of the founding fathers of Holiday Inns, Inc., MSU took the lead in the Southeastern Conference with the installation of a lighting system. The advent of night baseball in Starkville helped build a solid fan base. A drainage and sprinkler system and an expanded scoreboard and animation-equipped message center, new batting ranges and an infield tarp became the stadium's next improvements.

Mississippi State hosted its first SEC Baseball Tournament and NCAA Regional in 1979, winning both and setting attendance marks while opening eyes along the way.

The crowds mushroomed further in the 1980s as future Major League stars Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro  1985 Bulldogs win the SEC championship, host and win another regional championship and earn MSU's highest national finish, a tie for third place at the NCAA College World Series.

It was obvious that support for Bulldog Baseball had easily out-grown its cozy Dudy Noble Field facility.

Two years after that magical '85 season Mississippi State unveiled a dramatic advancement for its baseball facilities - an impressive $3.5 million project that would give MSU the biggest baseball stadium in the league.

The new facility at Dudy Noble Field, built in less than nine months, featured an impressive concrete grandstand structure with 3,700 maroon theater-style seats, a spacious elevated press box, and rest room, ticket, souvenir and concession-vending facilities. And the team clubhouse featured a 40-locker dressing room and team area. A pair of 1,500-seat bleachers that once overlooked the end zones at Scott Field, the home of MSU's football Bulldogs, were refurbished and installed along the foul lines, raising seating capacity at Dudy Noble Field to 6,700. The facility was later chosen by Sports Illustrated as the best play to watch college baseball, and it became a model for future college baseball facilities built across the nation. The "new" Dudy Noble Field facility also helped ignite a drive to update baseball facilities throughout the SEC.

The expanded capacity at the stadium also triggered an increase in MSU's annual baseball season ticket base to more than 5,000, virtually assuring  Mississippi State of a place among national leaders in college baseball attendance every year.

A second permanent concession stand was added in 1989, and a year later, the cinder warning track at the outfield fence was extended to completely encircle the playing field. That project, along with the installation of a six-foot high padded outfield fence, was made possible by a donation by former MSU All-American and Major League standout Will Clark.

Best-selling author, MSU alumnus and avid MSU baseball fan John Grisham donated funding in 1993 for an indoor batting range under the first base grandstand, and in August 1998 construction got under way on an ambitious project that added 18 skysuites and more than 600 additional chairback seats in the grandstand.

When it was completed during the 2000 season, permanent seating capacity at Dudy Noble Field had eclipsed the 7,000 mark.

The aura of Mississippi State baseball at Dudy Noble Field is certainly not confined to the loyal legions in the impressive grandstand, pro-style luxury skysuites and bleachers.

In fact, some of the more highly-prized seats at Bulldog Baseball games are found beyond the outfield fence in the "Left Field Lounge". Waiting lists greet those seeking to purchase one of nearly 75 renewable season parking passes for an assigned position in one of three rows beyond the outfield fence. There, a colorful assortment of pickup trucks, motor homes, and trailers - most equipped with barbecue grills - line the outfield fence, completing a circle of humanity at Dudy Noble Field.

What began in the late 1960s as a popular gathering spot for baseball-loving MSU students now forms college baseball's largest tailgate party. A 10-foot wide boardwalk has since been added to the area between the outfield fence and the first row of outfield terrace parking.

Not surprisingly MSU ranks each year among the nation's leaders in attendance. Single-game paid attendance totals have reached the five-digit mark 22 times, three of those in 2007. SEC weekend games typically draw the largest crowds, giving rise to huge weekend gatherings.

Six of the last eight three-game Super Bulldog Weekend series have drawn more than 25,000, including an SEC series-record 29,915 fans that watched the 2006 MSU-Georgia series.

Still, the improvements continue at Dudy Noble Field. Prior to the start of the 2003 season 46-foot "major league" foul poles were added, and a year later a new state-of-the-art scoreboard/message center, courtesy of the Henry Mize Foundation, was installed along with new fencing and gates surrounding the main grandstand.

The landscape surrounding Dudy Noble Field took on an even more impressive look in 2005 with the completion of the Palmeiro Center, a massive 68,000-square foot climate-controlled turfed indoor practice facility located adjacent to Dudy Noble Field.

The spacious facility, made possible by a generous lead gift from former MSU great Rafael Palmeiro and his wife Lynne, features a regulation infield practice area, additional training area and three retractable batting cages.

Nestled between the Palmeiro Center and Dudy Noble Field is the baseball coaches office complex, also completed in 2005. The complex, which also houses a baseball heritage room, was made possible by contributions from former Bulldog players Jeff Brantley, Will Clark, Eric DuBose, Paul Maholm, Jay Powell and Bobby Thigpen and former MSU manager James "Bo" McKinnis.

Mississippi State's baseball complex received a boost with the addition of the Bryce Griffis Boardroom, a $1.5 million, meeting/banquet hall extension on the south end of the Palmeiro Center. The facility features banquet seating for approximately 350.

In 2008-09 State constructed an outdoor practice infield adjacent to the Palmeiro Center, and an expanded state-of-the-art high definition video board was put in place for the 2009 season.

The field itself was the recipient of a complete makeover in 2009. The irrigation and drainage system was replaced, new sod installed, and the dugouts were expanded and then enclosed with net-covered railing. The Bulldog bullpen in the left field corner was rebuilt with artificial turf and enclosed.

The Bulldog locker room and clubhouse was also remodeled and upgraded with new lighting, audio-visual equipment, and attractive wall displays.


DNF QUICK FACTS
- Seating: approx. 7,200 (4,316 chairback seats; 180 skybox seats, approx. 2,700 bleacher seats)
- Largest crowd: *14,991 (April 22, 1989 vs. Florida)
      * NCAA on-campus attendance record
-  Dimensions: LF: 330, LC: 376, CF: 390, RC: 374, RF: 326 
- Primary batter’s eye: 20 feet high, 44 feet wide
- Outfield fence: Padded six-foot chain link fence
- Warning track: 15-foot wide track (crushed brick)
- Foul poles: 46 feet high
- Playing surface: Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass 
- MSU record at current DNF site: 929-332-2
- MSU games played at DNF: 1,263
- First Game: MSU 5, Illinois Wesleyan 3 (4/3/67)
- SEC tournaments: 5
- NCAA tournaments: 14 (2 NCAA district playoffs, 11 NCAA regionals and 1 NCAA super regional)