They say capacity is 6K, I assume that is w/ the berms?

if home plate was left in place...then why the comment about the triples being gone from Olsen? Still the same power alleys - right?

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Blue Bell won't have the triples and ItPHRs that Olsen had. I'll miss them terribly.

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How many Inside the park HRs have there been at Olsen in the past ten years and how many were on balls hit down the line? The reduced foul territory down the lines might take away a hand full of triples, but it's also going to eliminate a lot of foul outs. Since offense seems to be a concern for you, this should excite you.

I'm going to break my own rule here commenting on this, but I'm to the point I just ignore Rebel's posts. I suggest doing the same.

Pictures taken 1-27-12







The new wall padding. I was surprised it was just sitting out.

brick exterior done by next friday do we think?

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brick exterior done by next friday do we think?

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There's no way the brick will be done that quickly.

OK, it ain't done yet, but I'll say it now:

As the most vocal critic of the crappy architecture at my beloved university... this is the best-looking structure we've built on campus in the last 30 years.

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if home plate was left in place...then why the comment about the triples being gone from Olsen? Still the same power alleys - right?

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Triples generally require a line drive down the line to find foul territory and bounce around in the corner a bit. Without the corners, there is less field to cover.

Besides, I'm a fan of defense before offense.

Brad, I'm sorry you feel that way. Other than not supporting the loss of Olsen I guess I don't know what your beef with me is. ...unless it's because I can understand Dave.

It's not lost! It's sitting there right freaking now.

It's the same damned concrete where you'll be sitting.

Jeez, if the world worked like you we'd still be working with the original Kyle Field bleachers, because by God we can't mess with any aspect of Aggie baseball!

All of the players and about 99.9999999999% of the fans (everyone except you) love the renovations at this point. This may change after we see how it plays, but I suspect you'll learn to love it exactly the same as the old Olsen.

After all, Aggies (specifically 203-ers) will still be in the stands, and that's what makes Olsen different than any old ball park.

So will you be in 203 this year?

I'll be in my seat, if that's what you mean.

In what is now technically 202, but will most-likely always be called 203 because of the people there (not to mention a certain "203" laying around that Statboy may or may not post at gametime).

Also, I'm not sure you understand... We've been losing Olsen since Byrne arrived. From the Bullpen Bombers to the raffles... to the shark board ...to $.50 Aggie Dog night ...to the first A&M athletic facility to have a corporate sponsor. Do you not see that baseball has been his guinea pig for just about everything? Once baseball fans fall into line he has precedent to offer when it comes time to change other facilities.

It wasn't long ago, Aggies were proud to not have to sell out.

[This message has been edited by TexasRebel (edited 1/28/2012 1:22a).]

Are you referring to the sign on Sawyers' office door?

Well apparently nobody ponied up the money, so two AGGIES that happen to have a lot of pull at a creamery a few miles away (you may have heard of it) decided to step in and donate a ton of money.

So let me get this straight. All promotions aside, you'd rather NOT have a brand new ballpark, one of the nicest in America, filled with the same rabid fans as before?

Don't like some of the things Byrne has done, but getting us one of the nicest ballparks in America to go along with our atmosphere is as close to a slam dunk as you can get.

I fear it won't be filled with the same rabid fans as before, though.

Boxes and all. Big money seats, score long season tickets lost to overpricing. ...just watch.

While TexasRebel has been more vocal, he is not alone and has raised valid criticisms (perhaps because I agree with his points if not his ferocity).

1) You say Olsen Field is still there, but part of it is missing. Why did the upgrades to the stadiums have to change the field and how it plays? Coach Childress removed alot of the excitement from baseball by cutting out the foul territory. One of the most exciting plays in sports is a triple. At Olsen we got that but those numbers will decrease. For those of you that argue we will see more offense because of the decreased foul territory, less triples means more doubles (assuming a hit), means lower slugging %, means less offense.

2) Why the need to go away from the typical brick color of campus? Red brick has always felt cheap to me, perhaps because it is common. Tan has always blended better with green to me.

They "fixed" things that were not broken. As a result some of us are afraid something special was just made routine and broken in the name of progress. Are the fans going to be the same? The suites and boxes and restricted access club seem to change the fan demographics and their attitude toward the game. The game on the field has changed because of what Childress has done to the field since he hit town (it did not start with these renovations). Did people not enjoy baseball at Olsen for it's first 29 seasons as Tom Chandler envisioned it?

That is one helluva nice windbreak!

Reminds me of a saying my father had...You give some folks a million dollars, they'd b*tch it about it not being 2 millon.

Can't please everyone...that's pretty evident. People *****ing will still be there. Promise.

I guess they eliminated the left and right center field gaps as well?? The majority of triples in baseball are balls hit in to the power alleys and to the base of the wall in center. It was funny for a while, but you are becoming more and more poisonous, rebel. Some people donated hard earned money to make sure that we are one of the haves in college baseball. You come off as a complete ingrate. Recruiting was becoming an uphill battle with our facilities. If you don't care about seeing championship level baseball, just go find a minor league team to support. Those games tend to be cheap and "exciting". How anyone can say that baseball at Olsen is getting too expensive is just beyond me. You can get reserved season tickets for under $250 and youth tickets for 1/2 of that. Find me a better value anywhere in B/CS for $6 and $3 an outing.

Anyway back on topic...

Triples? Triples? That's what this is all about? For every triple hit down the RF line (and you never have one hit down the LF line--it's a double and an error if the batter ends up on 3rd on a ball hit into the LF corner) there are probably 10 foul ball outs hits into the foul territory down the lines that is no longer there.

All this crap about losing Olsen since Byrne's arrival is a classic case of looking for a scapegoat. Things change. I remember when we used to have free scorecards (on pretty good cardstock) with lucky numbers handed to us as we entered the park, only to see that replaced with inferior scorecards that you had to pay for. Happened in 1991 or thereabouts, and I'm still missing the old scorecards. And it wasn't 50 cent hot dog night, it was quarter hot dog night.

There are some things that I would have done different if I had been in charge of this renovation, but on the whole, I think this is one of the best projects we've done in a very long time.

I don't mind renovations however I think its funny how people are constantly convinced our facilities are hurting our recruiting. Texas played in a dump for years and they won multiple national titles.

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For those of you that argue we will see more offense because of the decreased foul territory, less triples means more doubles (assuming a hit), means lower slugging %, means less offense.

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Assuming a hit is a bad way to calculate slugging %. I would wager we'll see more would've been foul outs (hurts SLG) change to singles (improvement on SLG) and walks (SLG neutral) than we do triples to doubles.

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For those of you that argue we will see more offense because of the decreased foul territory, less triples means more doubles (assuming a hit), means lower slugging %, means less offense.

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There will likely to be fewer triples, however most of the triples at Olsen tend to be those that roll to the wall in the power alleys or those balls misplayed off the wall, not those that find their way into the right field corner. Overall offensive numbers should increase due to foul pops that once fell into gloves will now find the stands giving hitters another chance to put the ball safely into play.

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The game on the field has changed because of what Childress has done to the field since he hit town...

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Until these renovations, what has he done to the field that have changed how the game is played on the field? The only modifications to the field I can think of are the padded walls (a good thing IMHO), a new hitters background set back from the wall so not in play (kind of liked the old green monster and needing to clear it for a HR) and the the visitors bullpen in foul territory (which will now be moved beyond the right field fence). How do these drastically change how the game is played?

As for the current renovations, as a pitching oriented coach, I would assume RC would have preferred more foul territory. I'm sure he gave input to what he wanted to see with the renovations but what makes you think he had final authority?


[This message has been edited by jkag89 (edited 1/28/2012 10:18a).]

The bat regulations have impacted the game more than anything Childress has done. Offense will never be what it once was in the college game, and I'm okay with that.

this thread has turned pathetic by many of the usual suspects.

There wasn't much foul territory down the lines and there weren't many triples hit into the corners. I doubt that we'll see a noticeable decrease in triples. If anything, offense will increase slightly due to fewer foul outs.

This is supposed to be a photo thread. Take the chatter elsewhere.

Thanks Dan. How's it looking for opening day? Will most of the stadium be done?

Interesting Bullpen Bomber reference. This old Bomber loves the new stadium...but I certainly don't speak for everyone.

Also, Brandon Wood hit a bases clearing triple in Omaha...down the right field line where there was very little foul territory.

Just stating a fact...

Triples are often the result of the ball taking a funky bounce off a wall. With less foul territory, you might actually see more triples at Olsen. The right fielder could try to field a ball in the corner only to have it bounce back into the field of play off of the wall. Just saying it happens.

EDIT - I looked at the pictures of the wall in right field. Not sure a ball in play could ever bounce off of there. I was thinking more about the field at Minute Maid Park.

[This message has been edited by OKCAg2002 (edited 1/29/2012 7:32a).]

You know what else eliminates offense??? Losing recruits (hitters) to other schools because you have outdated facilities