2026 Baseball - General

Mandingo Finkelstein

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DecaturJacket said:
Hopefully next go round of actual improvements we see some outfield seating added. Miss the days of the frats having homemade platforms with couches and speakers out there.
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Agree completely. Alpert comes in from UT-Knoxville where he has seen 1st hand what a rowdy stadium can do for a team as far as home field advantage goes. I am by no means saying these additional seating plans will lead to a "rowdy" atmosphere. I don't think that at all. It's been a while since I've been to a game in Knoxville, but 15 years ago there was a standing area down the 3B side that attracted mostly students and young alumni that was incredibly loud - and yes, it was the main "drinking area". The outfield seating/standing areas are now a huge attraction not far from the train tracks. And, like me, a lot of folks prefer to be out in the outfield areas - I don't like foul balls zinging at or above my head throughout a game...just a personal preference that's all. Like Oxford and some other SEC venues, the outfield areas take on more of a tailgating-while-inside-the-stadium-watching atmosphere. And they are not always packed in February and March, just like there will be times if we ever went that route it would be empty on certain dates and time of year. But, it can be quite the advantage (for the team and financially) to have it if it ever came to be one day. I mean, if UVA can have outfield seating (and normally fills it up when the weather warms up and through regional hostings), we should be able to as well. Let's reel off several trips to Omaha and make the ticket so hot first to force the consideration.
 

CINCYMETJACKET

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gtrower said:
Meaningless for tourney seed projection maybe. But not meaningless for brand. And these days brand is everything.

Having GT #1 in baseball polls would be a great story and help the brand. Especially with Ramsey in his first year. What a narrative for recruiting.
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Being top 5, top 10 is where you want to be. That will have the "experts" talking about you every week and give the program publicity. If we're top 10, I don't care where GT is in the polls until we win the final game and we're #1.
 

GT33

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gtbeak said:
With respect (I mean that, I do respect you as a poster), I disagree. Media coverage is based on fan support almost exclusively, with a little bit of star player sprinkled in (Drew Burress for us this season). And fan support is mostly based on a school being in the south but away from other professional teams (major league and minor league), with of course the need to have had some historical success in the post-season. "The radar" used by the committee making post-season selections is not aware that rankings even exist, so being on or off of that radar is independent of rankings.
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Well I’ve got enough people telling me I’m mistaken on rankings it appears I am. The selection committees have always been a mystery to me.
 

Mandingo Finkelstein

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I don't pay much attention to rankings in college baseball primarily because there are just so darn many of them. I'm not saying they are or are not important as far as how regional hosts are selected. I really don't know. I've never been in the room to see how the process works. But, for many many MANY years and still today there are so many flavor of the publisher/website college baseball polls, it really makes me numb on buying much into any of them. It's why you literally could see a game being hyped (and I'm being silly...well, kind of...for illustrative purposes) as #2/4/7/8/10/11 Georgia Tech faces Insert Opponents Name Here.

I do think and may be wrong, the NCAAT baseball regional selection takes geography more into account than any other sport. For instance, if there are 2 teams vying for the last regional hosting and they kinda/sorta need a west coast hosting, they'll go with that team. Just sayin'.
 
FredJacket

FredJacket

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This graphic is in game notes for VT series.

5135.png
 

bensaysitathome

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DecaturJacket said:
I was wondering that too. I can't imagine those being $150/person. $37.50 per seems more reasonable (but also more than I would pay for that view ...).
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I think it depends on the buyer.

I don't live anywhere near Atlanta anymore. I try to make it down once a season or so for a football game, but baseball ends up being a tv and radio product for me.

If I was in town for big time baseball game, I would absolutely drop $150 for that table. My kids would love it.
 
78pike

78pike

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Mandingo Finkelstein said:
Agree completely. Alpert comes in from UT-Knoxville where he has seen 1st hand what a rowdy stadium can do for a team as far as home field advantage goes. I am by no means saying these additional seating plans will lead to a "rowdy" atmosphere. I don't think that at all. It's been a while since I've been to a game in Knoxville, but 15 years ago there was a standing area down the 3B side that attracted mostly students and young alumni that was incredibly loud - and yes, it was the main "drinking area". The outfield seating/standing areas are now a huge attraction not far from the train tracks. And, like me, a lot of folks prefer to be out in the outfield areas - I don't like foul balls zinging at or above my head throughout a game...just a personal preference that's all. Like Oxford and some other SEC venues, the outfield areas take on more of a tailgating-while-inside-the-stadium-watching atmosphere. And they are not always packed in February and March, just like there will be times if we ever went that route it would be empty on certain dates and time of year. But, it can be quite the advantage (for the team and financially) to have it if it ever came to be one day. I mean, if UVA can have outfield seating (and normally fills it up when the weather warms up and through regional hostings), we should be able to as well. Let's reel off several trips to Omaha and make the ticket so hot first to force the consideration.
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I'm not sure if you have been at one of our baseball games the past couple years because all of the seated areas are protected from "foul balls zinging at their heads" with netting/screens. The only would balls getting into the stands are ones that are popped up which can happen at any baseball park.

I'm not sure we need to worry much about outfield tailgating areas until we consistently sell out games like last Saturday. I do think that if we continue playing like we have been those crowds will be more consistent especially when the other spectator sports see their seasons end. I can see the possibility if the Braves have a lackluster season that we might draw some of their fans to Tech games. Especially when the sidewalk fans realize the quality of the seating at the stadium for essentially a $10 admission fee for general admission. Personally I continue to be a huge fan of the early evening games as spring turns into summer and the lights come on with the city backdrop. It's pretty amazing.
 

Mandingo Finkelstein

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78pike said:
I'm not sure if you have been at one of our baseball games the past couple years because all of the seated areas are protected from "foul balls zinging at their heads" with netting/screens. The only would balls getting into the stands are ones that are popped up which can happen at any baseball park.

I'm not sure we need to worry much about outfield tailgating areas until we consistently sell out games like last Saturday. I do think that if we continue playing like we have been those crowds will be more consistent especially when the other spectator sports see their seasons end. I can see the possibility if the Braves have a lackluster season that we might draw some of their fans to Tech games. Especially when the sidewalk fans realize the quality of the seating at the stadium for essentially a $10 admission fee for general admission. Personally I continue to be a huge fan of the early evening games as spring turns into summer and the lights come on with the city backdrop. It's pretty amazing.
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Agree. That's why I specifically threw in the last sentence in my post.
 

JacketMom

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PearidgeRambler said:
What kind of food are they serving in Champions Hall? Worth the extra $100?
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I have not been in Champions Hall this year, however can tell you what it was like last year. They had one premixed cocktail and a few beer choices. No extra charge. For food they might have hamburgers and a salad, but the few times I was there no Hot dog, hamburger and chicken fingers at the same time. Standing room only outside. The chair backs are reserved. This year we decided it was not worth $100.00. The people giving out wrist bands are really nice. So you could ask them to find out the food. Hope that helps
 
GTNavyNuke

GTNavyNuke

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JacketMom said:
I have not been in Champions Hall this year, however can tell you what it was like last year. They had one premixed cocktail and a few beer choices. No extra charge. For food they might have hamburgers and a salad, but the few times I was there no Hot dog, hamburger and chicken fingers at the same time. Standing room only outside. The chair backs are reserved. This year we decided it was not worth $100.00. The people giving out wrist bands are really nice. So you could ask them to find out the food. Hope that helps
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I think one has to look at Champion's Hall and upgraded seating partly as a donation and not a value proposition. For several years I had season tickets and went to 2 weekend series. I decided it was better to just contribute directly to Beesball.
 
gtrower

gtrower

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Down goes LSU. 1-3 this week so far now. Florida in a lightning delay (great for them as High Point starter probably done for the day now).
 
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