New baseball stadium nears completion

The turf has been laid down, the dugouts have been built and work on the bullpens is next on the list. On March 23, when Penn's baseball team plays its first home game against the St. Joseph's Hawks, they will be running the bases at a brand-new, state-of-the-art baseball stadium at Murphy Field. The completed stadium will hold 850 people in stadium-style seating and will also include a press box and luxury box, Director of Athletic Operations Dave Bryan said. Construction of the open-air stadium began last August. The new stadium --Estill unnamed -- was made possible through a large anonymous donation made to the Athletic Department in 1998. The field, located near the intersection of University Avenue and Civic Center Boulevard on the southeastern end of campus, used to be the home of many of Penn's recreational teams. According to Bryan, construction is currently running on schedule, though seating and fencing still need to be completed. When construction at Murphy Field is completed it will be, Bryan predicted,"a very nice place to sit down and watch a game." The stadium is a natural-grass facility that will eventually have lighting to allow night games this season. A water cooling plant stands on the opposite side of Murphy Field from the baseball stadium and has played a role in the stadium's construction. When the season starts, the bottom floor of the plant will be used as a temporary team room, with hopes of eventually transforming it into a full-fledged locker room as soon as the appropriate funds become available, Seddon said. The stadium will have similar measurements as many new collegiate ballparks, baseball coach Bob Seddon said. While center field will be 390 feet from home plate, and the farthest part of left field will be 382 feet from home plate, the fence in left center will measure 355 feet. The right field foul pole will be out at 330 feet, while the left field foul pole will be 285 feet out. The entire project has a price tag of about $2 million -- a large part of which was contributed by an anonymous donor. Other funds for the construction of the new stadium were gathered during a silent auction of sports memorabilia in November. The auction was part of a banquet held at the Penn Tower Hotel, to celebrate 30 years of coaching between Seddon and assistant coach Bill Wagner. To help promote the stadium, Recreation Director Mike Diorka said officials are planning a few promotional events at the new stadium. A student home-run derby is also in the works, Diorka said. The featured student sluggers will be selected by surviving a preliminary competition at the old baseball diamond at Bower Field, and the event finals will likely take place in between the two games of a double-header sometime during the upcoming season.