Friday, October 19, 2001

Ground broken on much awaited baseball stadium
By Brandon Ortiz
Sports Editor

Head baseball coach Lance Brown can remember, as a young pitcher, the first game played at the TCU Diamond in 1962.

“I was sitting on the bench with coach (Frank) Windegger — not my choice,” Brown said cracking a smile.

In the spring of 2003, Brown will be sitting on the bench for the opener of the Charles and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium, but this time as a coach.

As the band played on a blustery, yet sunny, October afternoon Thursday, Chancellor Michael Ferrari and donors broke ground on Lupton Stadium.

Alumnus H.H. “Slim” Kinzy, a former All-American who graduated in 1934 and pitched professionally, played on the 1933 team of 13 that won the first Southwest Conference title in TCU history. For Kinzy, Thursday’s ground-breaking ceremony was a long time coming.

“It is exciting,” said 91-year-old Kinzy.

David Dunai/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Chancellor Michael Ferrari, other administrators and financial donors ceremonially broke ground for the new baseball stadium Thursday. For more information about the new stadium, see Sports, page 13.

Athletics Director Eric Hyman said a state-of-the-art college baseball stadium had been something alumni have wanted for decades.

“I am told that in 1968, (a stadium) was a concept,” Hyman said, pointing to the future site of the stadium. “Now that dream is going to turn into a reality. I’ve been told many times that it has been a dream for many, many years to have a baseball stadium.

ow we are going to have one. It is an exciting moment for TCU and TCU athletics.”
The $7 million stadium will seat about 2,200 people and construction is expected to finish summer 2002. Unlike the antiquated TCU Diamond, Lupton Stadium will feature locker rooms, skybox suits, concession areas and restrooms.

Brown hopes the new stadium will help the TCU baseball team dip into the talent-rich Metroplex.

“As far as recruiting, this is vital,” Brown said. “Probably the most important factor in getting people is facilities. Young people want to play in a nice facility where they can play before people. Every one of our chief rivals in recruiting has built a new stadium. This gives up a chance to step up to compete.”

Lupton Stadium is part of a sports facility building-spree the university began in 1998. In the last three years, Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium, the Robert and Maria Lowden Track and the John Justin Center have been built.

Hyman said the improved facilities contributed to TCU’s eight Western Athletic Conference championships and seven nationally-ranked teams in the 2000-2001 season.

“The success of our programs has been a direct correlation with the facilities and the presentation we have made for a young person when they are deciding where to go to school,” Hyman said. “The great thing about the Metroplex is we have some of the best high school athletics in the country. We are now in the position to put ourselves high on the radar screen for a young person of where they want to go to college.”

Brown said the new stadium will give TCU the opportunity to host NCAA Tournaments, giving TCU a better advantage of attracting recruits and winning tournaments.

Ferrari said 145 donors have raised $6.8 million for the stadium. As he stood in front of the future site of the stadium, Ferrari thanked donors for the beginning of a “nationally respected and recognized athletic program.”

“It is hard to believe just 11 months ago, we kicked off the baseball stadium fund-raising drive,” Ferrari said. “Now here we are to celebrate the official start of construction.”

Brandon Ortiz
b.p.ortiz@student.tcu.edu