New diamond shines for baseball recruits
By Danny Gillham
Skiff Staff

In basketball, the big story is about a 40-year-old assistant being hired as men’s basketball head coach who has a niche for recruiting.

In baseball, there is a 41-year-old stadium being replaced with a new field. It would also be key in recruiting.

The TCU Diamond, open since 1962, is in its last year of being the home of the Horned Frog baseball team. It’s being replaced by the Charles and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium. The stadium is slated to open next season for the Frogs.

Construction began for the $7 million stadium in December 2001. It will host 2,200 permanent seats, three skybox suites and a cantilevered roof system. There will also be top-notch improvements in the dugouts, press boxes and concession stands, to name a few.

Head coach Lance Brown said the Lupton Stadium will give a chance for the Frogs to reel in some high-profile recruits.

“We’ve already signed a couple of players this year,” Brown said. “They are real good players. But it’s not the same as telling them that its being built. I think that next year, once you bring them in and they can actually see it, then its different from even talking about it.”

TCU alum Roger Williams said he is thrilled, like many supporters, about the new stadium. Williams, who graduated in 1972, played baseball for the Frogs and coached the team back in 1976. As the chairman of the Capitol Campaign, the fundraiser for the new stadium, Williams said the project is rewarding after 20 years of lobbying.

“This will move TCU up in to the top tier of baseball programs,” Williams said. “It will enable the team to improve by going after any player in the country, as well as the state. When you look at how the new facilities at Texas Tech, Rice and Baylor helped their programs, its an exciting time for the university.”

One person who would know about the ability of a high-class facility to ascend in a club is University of Texas head coach Augie Garrido. Garrido, the Longhorns’ head coach since 1997, has one of the top teams in the country. UT plays its home games at Disch-Faulk Field, a large facility that hosts the UIL state baseball tournament, and may have the opportunity to host an NCAA Super Regional.

“It’s huge for the program,” Garrido said. “There are a lot of good Division I programs out there, and a good stadium serves as a catalyst for improving your team. Once you develop a facility, it allows for the school to bring in better players and improve.”

In addition to the attention-garnering stadium, publicity is also gained by being in Conferece USA. With schools in the conference being spread out across the country, Brown said it will allow for more people to notice the Frogs.

“When you think about it our scores never got in to the paper in the (Western Athletic Conference),” Brown said. “We were always hours late on the West Coast, so nobody could follow us. I think we will get a lot of inquiries from people back east now that are interested in playing here. It may open up some new avenues for us in recruiting.”

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002