Fresno State Athletics
Pete Beiden Field -- Home of Bulldog Baseball
1/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
| Beiden Field (click for larger photo) |
Fresno State's 5,757-seat Pete Beiden Filed is one of the premier college parks in the country. It has hosted eight NCAA Regionals since 1979 and is home to some college baseball's largest crowds.
The stadium is named after former Fresno State baseball coach Pete Beiden, who guided the Bulldogs to 600 wins in 21 seasons from 1948-69. Beiden was inducted into the College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1972 and was honored with a 7-foot statue last season. The ballpark originally was called Varsity Park before being renamed in Beiden's honor in 1972.
The facility was built in 1966 and redesigned in 1983. It features 3,575 theatre-style seats, a spacious press box, locker rooms, new restrooms and concession stands, offices for the coaching staff, four batting cages and six mounds inside two bullpens.
The stadium was redesigned at a cost of $2.2 million, which was raised through the efforts of the DugOut Club and a community-wide fund drive. The scoreboard was possible through donations by American National Bank (now Wells Fargo Bank), Pepsi-Cola and Me-N-Ed's Parlors. Since the renovation, Fresno State has been among the nation's attendance leaders every year, including 1988 and 1989 when the Bulldogs led the country in attendance.
| (click for larger photo) |
In 1998, Beiden Field was upgraded again. The project included the installation of a $300,000 state-of-the-art scoreboard/ message center, a new public address system made possible by former Bulldogs and present Major League pitchers Mark Gardner and Bobby Jones and the addition of 2,000 bleachers down both left and right field lines. The left field bleachers were removed in the 2004 season to make room for the construction of indoor batting cages and a team clubhouse.
The stadium structure is composed of cast-in-place and pre-cast concrete. Seating is in a horseshoe configuration, with four rows of box seats nearest the infield, a cross aisle behind, and 16 rows of standard seating elevated behind that. The stadium is equipped with a modern press box, which can seat more than 40 members of the media. Whether it is a trip to the concessions stand for a hot dog or a visit by the DugOut Club's display case, fans don't have to miss a minute of the action with speakers on the concourse airing the radio play-by-play.
The infield was replaced in 1999 and includes 200,000 square feet of natural grass, with rock dirt on the warning track. The dirt portion of the infield is composed of 60 percent cinder, 20 percent clay, and 20 percent surface.
In January 2000, groundskeepers Chuck Garcia, Doug Moritz, and Ed Zenteno were selected as the winners of the American Baseball Coaches Association/Turface Field Maintenance Award for the upkeep and maintenance of the playing surface. The annual award goes to the school exhibiting most outstanding field maintenance and care program.
Lights were installed at the facility in 1969 and new lighting was installed prior to the 1996 season. Stadium lighting includes 98 fixtures on eight towers generating 100-foot candles of light in the field and on average of 80 candles of light in the outfield.
The dimensions are 330 feet down the lines, 370 feet to the power alleys and 400 feet to center field. In addition, the numbers of legendary coaches Pete Beiden (#2) and Bob Bennett (#26) have been retired on the outfield wall.
Year-by-Year Record at Beiden Field
Year Record
1966 16-7-11967 N/A1968 N/A1969 21-91970 15-61971 20-151972 19-151973 17-101974 18-81975 14-181976 13-141977 23-51978 22-71979 24-121980 25-21981 27-101982 37-31983 27-81984 35-41985 28-131986 25-161987 22-151988 44-41989 29-111990 31-121991 28-141992 28-111993 32-81994 24-111995 28-81996 23-81997 25-111998 23-141999 21-102000 21-102001 27-142002 20-132003 23-132004 21-162005 26-132006 34-72007 23-132008 23-102009 21-11Totals 1023-439-1 (.699)
Largest Home Crowds
Year Opponent (Score...attendance)
1988 USC (5,673)...Fresno State 17-14, Fresno State 12-31988 USC (5,455)...USC 18-171988 Brigham Young (5,455)...Fresno State 9-41989 Michigan (5,422)...Michigan 5-31989 Notre Dame (5,406)...Fresno State 9-81988 Minnesota (5,355)...Fresno State 10-81991 Stanford (5,223)...Stanford 7-51995 CS Fullerton (5,220)...CS Fullerton 7-31998 Stanford (5,113)...Stanford 12-10 (11)1988 Stanford (5,021)...Fresno State 6-5
