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re: When did the SEC baseball culture begin?
Posted on 5/27/25 at 7:42 am to BuckI
Posted on 5/27/25 at 7:42 am to BuckI
The original Left Field Lounge dates back to the late 1960’s. Then Coach Polk was hired at State in 1975 and starting in 1976, he really pushed State to make baseball important and the fan base bought in. Also, he was not much on gimmick promotions. He firmly believed that the product on the field would sell itself (and he was right). We then had success in the late 70’s into the 80’s.
In 1984, LSU hired Skip Bertman as they saw that baseball could be successful and a money maker. So Polk & Bertman are considered the Godfathers of modern SEC Baseball. Fast forward to 2000 and over the last 25 years every school except Missouri has a class A stadium and good fan support and most have had good success as well.
It goes back to “if you put a good product on the field and provide good facilities and make it fun and affordable for the fans, they will come.”
And here we are today.
In 1984, LSU hired Skip Bertman as they saw that baseball could be successful and a money maker. So Polk & Bertman are considered the Godfathers of modern SEC Baseball. Fast forward to 2000 and over the last 25 years every school except Missouri has a class A stadium and good fan support and most have had good success as well.
It goes back to “if you put a good product on the field and provide good facilities and make it fun and affordable for the fans, they will come.”
And here we are today.
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Posted on 5/27/25 at 7:47 am to BuckI
quote:Started for me when ESPN started carrying the CWS (82 or 83?). I can remember keeping up with Bruce Castoria's home runs even before that but was living out of state and not able to get radio coverage. I have listened to thousands of games with Jim Ellis at the mic.
When did the SEC baseball culture begin?
Posted on 5/27/25 at 8:17 am to TMRebel
I was at Ole Miss when Swayze was built and opened, I attended many of the games that year including the first two games (doubleheader). At that time State was the big baseball draw in the state, but that seems to be when Ole Miss started taking baseball seriously.
Posted on 5/27/25 at 8:23 am to lewis and herschel
quote:
Inexpensive
baseball is anything but inexpensive. exact opposite. Posted on 5/27/25 at 8:38 am to BuckI
I graduated high school in 1988 and, although Skip Bertman had only been at LSU since 1984, everyone who played baseball in Louisiana knew that LSU had something going on that you wanted to be part of, if possible.
Had a friend who had a good career at LSU and then spent about 16 years in MLB. So, getting to watch friends and guys you played against get the chance to play SEC baseball helped develop the culture.
We didn't have cable or a big satellite dish in the yard so the only way to watch LSU back then was to go to Alex Box. Dad took us to one game and then the rest of the time we were reading newspaper articles and box scores. Can't remember how big LSU's radio network was for baseball back in the late 80s but do remember listening to games in the early 90s. Maybe the fact that back then you had to work at it to follow the sport helped develop such culture.
Had a friend who had a good career at LSU and then spent about 16 years in MLB. So, getting to watch friends and guys you played against get the chance to play SEC baseball helped develop the culture.
We didn't have cable or a big satellite dish in the yard so the only way to watch LSU back then was to go to Alex Box. Dad took us to one game and then the rest of the time we were reading newspaper articles and box scores. Can't remember how big LSU's radio network was for baseball back in the late 80s but do remember listening to games in the early 90s. Maybe the fact that back then you had to work at it to follow the sport helped develop such culture.
This post was edited on 5/27/25 at 8:55 am
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