New UIC Baseball Stadium

[vubballfan]

http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/granderson-pledges-to-build-baseball-stadium-on-uic-campus.html

Check out this facility upgrade for the UIC Baseball team. With Wright State adding turf and a press box in the fall, this makes the job that much tougher for Valpo Baseball

[valpotx]

It was amazing the improvement he showed from his SO to JR seasons.  He was always a tough out for our pitchers that pitched against UIC, and I don't recall us beating them while he was there, but we only played them 1-2 times/season.  It is awesome that he is giving back to the program that helped him achieve his goals, and I think a 1,200 seat stadium is perfect for the intended use.  The drawings look great, and the stadium will definitely be even more of a recruiting boost for them.  We wouldn't need anything that big as we don't get but maybe 100 or so people at our games nowadays?  If we did a grandstand-type setup, 500-600 seats would be more than enough. 

[valpotx]

I just went back and checked, and we played them 1 time each year during Granderson's years (2000, 2001, 2002 seasons), and were 1-2 in those games, with the win during his standout 2002 season.  We played them 3 times while I was playing (2001, 2002, 2003; I played 2001-2004 seasons again), and were still 1-2, winning that 2002 game 16-11.  As a sidenote, we also got to play against Pat Neshek (Butler), and a few other future MLB players, which is always a cool thing to say from my college years.  There are too many MLB players I played against in HS and summer ball to give an accurate count of before college  .

[KL31NY]

UIC's story, mostly the same but featuring a couple still shots and another link to the video overview: http://www.uicflames.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/020613aaa.html

Maybe in 10 to 15 years, Kyle Gadele or Tanner Vavra can help give us something cool like this

[ARCInsider]

Old news now, but check out the video for the stadium plans...

http://www.uicflames.com/facilities/les.html

Why can't we have the cool toys too? 

[valpotx]

The facility is actually open now