The "Left Field Lounge"
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 skyboxes 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 await those in search of 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.
It is truly unique in college baseball, and has enabled the grounds to be named the "#1 place to watch college baseball" and among the "100 things you gotta do before you graduate" by Sports Illustrated. In 2009 the Left Field Lounge was named "the country's best tailgating experience" (among all sports venues) by ESPN Magazine.
Read more about this topic: Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium
Famous quotes containing the words left, field and/or lounge:
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—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881)
“I don’t like comparisons with football. Baseball is an entirely different game. You can watch a tight, well-played football game, but it isn’t exciting if half the stadium is empty. The violence on the field must bounce off a lot of people. But you can go to a ball park on a quiet Tuesday afternoon with only a few thousand people in the place and thoroughly enjoy a one-sided game. Baseball has an aesthetic, intellectual appeal found in no other team sport.”
—Bowie Kuhn (b. 1926)
“I drink the five o’clock martinis
and poke at this dry page like a rough
goat. Fool! I fumble my lost childhood
for a mother and lounge in sad stuff
with love to catch and catch as catch can.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)