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Left Field Lounge

Coordinates: 33°27′50″N 88°47′39″W / 33.463758°N 88.794054°W / 33.463758; -88.794054
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Left Field Lounge is the area beyond the outfield fence in Dudy Noble Field, Polk-DeMent Stadium at Mississippi State University. It has been named the "#1 place to watch college baseball", and among the "100 things you gotta do before you graduate" by Sports Illustrated.[1]

The author John Grisham, alumnus of Mississippi State and fan of MSU college baseball wrote an introduction about his time at MSU and in the Left Field Lounge in his book Inside Dudy Noble: A Celebration of Mississippi State Baseball, he.[2]

The Left Field Lounge started in the 1960s with fans driving cars and trucks into the area to watch a game. Russ Rogers, a Starkville native, was the first to drive a pickup in to the left field and set up shop. In the late 1960s, fans started bringing grills, tables, and ice chests full of drinks for a full tailgate party experience. At that time, fans would drive in before the game to set up their tailgates, and then take it all down after the game and drive back out. As the area became more popular, a line would form to get in before the game, the area would fill up, and some would be turned away. In a 2003 article by a Mississippi State alumnus:[3] In the early 1970s one truck driven to the Left Field Lounge would not start and was unable to leave after the game was over, so the owners just left the truck there. For the next game, the truck was still there, creating what was essentially a reserved spot. Other fans picked up on this idea and brought in trucks and grills with the intention of leaving them there. Some trucks that were no longer functional were towed into a spot. To allow more fans to share a space, home-built seats and bleachers were built in the beds of some of the trucks. Later, motorhomes and flatbed trailers were brought in with more elaborate and sturdy bleachers. Eventually, the university established rules for the spots in Left Field Lounge. Spaces were rented for the season, and after all of the spaces were filled, those not receiving a space were placed on a waiting list. The trucks/trailers/motorhomes had been on wheels, brought in by a certain day before the season started, and removed after the season ended.[citation needed]

NCAA Record Attendance

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SEC weekend games typically draw the largest crowds, giving rise to large weekend gatherings. Mississippi State holds the NCAA record for the largest single-game on-campus baseball attendance at 15,586 and the largest SEC crowd for a 3-game weekend series at 29,915.[citation needed] In 2007 versus the Clemson Tigers, MSU had the NCAA's top two all-time highest attended Super Regional games with 12,620 and 13,715 fans.[citation needed]

Mississippi State has all of the top 11 on-campus crowds in the history of college baseball. Overall, DNF-PDS has held 15 crowds over 12,000 and 31 crowds over 10,000.[citation needed]

Top Baseball Crowds at DNF-PDS

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Rank Attendance Opponent Date Record Broken
1 16,423 Ole Miss April 15, 2023 NCAA On-Campus Record
2 15,586 Ole Miss April 12, 2014
3 15,078 Texas A&M April 16, 2016
4 14,991 Florida April 22, 1989
5 14,739 Ole Miss April 14, 2023
6 14,562 Auburn April 20, 2013
7 14,556 LSU April 16, 1988
8 14,385 Notre Dame June 12, 2021 NCAA Super Regional Single-Game Record
9 14,320 Arizona State February 25, 2023
10 14,228 LSU April 9, 2022
11 14,077 Alabama March 26, 2022
12 13,971 Notre Dame June 13, 2021 #2 NCAA Super Regional Single-Game Record
13 13,761 Arkansas April 25, 1992
14 13,715 Clemson June 9, 2007
15 13,617 Georgia April 8, 2006
16 13,351 Long Beach State February 19, 2022
17 13,338 Ole Miss April 17, 2021 First home series after lifting of COVID-19 restrictions
18 13,324 Ole Miss April 11, 2014
19 13,123 Ole Miss April 15, 2000
20 12,927 Vanderbilt March 25, 2023
21 12,824 Ole Miss April 16, 2023
22 12,708 Auburn April 24, 1993
23 12,620 Clemson June 8, 2007
24 12,360 Georgia April 6, 2002
25 12,357 South Carolina April 1, 2023
26 12,346 Auburn April 15, 2022
27 12,297 Florida May 7, 2022
28 12,213 VMI February 18, 2023

References

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  1. ^ "100 things you gotta do before you graduate". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on September 27, 2003. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  2. ^ "Inside Dudy Noble: A Celebration of Mississippi State Baseball". Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  3. ^ "Out in left field". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
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33°27′50″N 88°47′39″W / 33.463758°N 88.794054°W / 33.463758; -88.794054