Alex Box Stadium, pronounced Alec Box Stadium, was a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

stadium in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

, United States. It was the home field of the

LSU Tigers baseball The LSU Tigers baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. It ranks seventh overall with 18 College World Series appeara ...

team. The stadium was located across the street from Tiger Stadium, which is visible in right field. It was most notable for ''The Intimidator'', a large billboard behind the right-field fence featuring the five years in which LSU won the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

History

LSU constructed the ballpark at a cost of $50,000 in 1938. The New York Giants held spring training at the ballpark in 1938 and 1939. LSU dedicated the new field and the Giants played the first baseball game at the park on March 12, 1938, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5. The first LSU game was March 21, 1938. LSU led Minnesota, 4–2, after three innings when the game was halted due to rain. The first official LSU Game at the stadium was March 24, 1938, when Minnesota defeated LSU, 6–5. Alex Box was home to the Baton Rouge Red Sticks in the

Evangeline Baseball League The Evangeline League began in 1934 as a six–team Class D level minor league with teams based in Louisiana, United States, later adding Mississippi and Texas based franchises. In 1935, the league was expanded to eight teams and ceased operatio ...

from 1946 to 1955. The final regular season series at Alex Box Stadium was played between LSU and Mississippi State University in 2008. At the time, it appeared this would be the last series ever at Alex Box Stadium; however, LSU was selected to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament (which it won), and subsequently hosted a Super Regional as the #7 national seed. It appeared that Alex Box stadium would close on a sour note for the Tigers, as LSU dropped Game 1 to

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

11–5, and in Game 2, LSU was three outs away from elimination, trailing 7–4 in the ninth inning. However, UC Irvine was unable to close out the LSU Tigers and LSU came from behind to win the game 9–7. The stadium was thus given one final chance to close on a high note, which it did in Game 3 of the Super Regional played on June 9, 2008, as LSU defeated UC Irvine 21–7. As a result of the victory, LSU won the Baton Rouge Super Regional two games to one and advanced to the

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. In the final play at the stadium,

Tyler Hoechlin Tyler Lee Hoechlin (; born September 11, 1987) is an American actor. Initially earning recognition for starring as Michael Sullivan Jr. in the 2002 film ''Road to Perdition'', Hoechlin went on to star as Martin Brewer on '' 7th Heaven'' between ...

hit a grounder to pitcher

Anthony Ranaudo Anthony Ronald Ranaudo (born September 9, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, and Chicago White Sox. Prior to playing professionally, Ranaudo ...

, who threw to first baseman Buzzy Haydel for the final out. The stadium was dismantled, and its remnants sold to fans. It was replaced with a new stadium 200 yards to the south named Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Both structures were named for Simeon Alex Box, an LSU letterman (1942) who was killed in North Africa during World War II. The stadium was called LSU Diamond or LSU Varsity Baseball Field when it first opened.

Tournaments Hosted

NCAA Regional Tournaments (18): 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008
NCAA Super Regional Series (4): 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008
SEC Tournaments (4): 1985, 1986, 1991, 1993
ABCA Hall of Fame Tournament (1): 1991

LSU record in Alex Box Stadium (1984–2008)

References

External links

Alex Box Stadium at lsusports.net

{{San Francisco Giants Baseball venues in Baton Rouge, Louisiana LSU Tigers baseball venues New York Giants (NL) spring training venues Demolished sports venues in Louisiana Defunct college baseball venues in the United States 1938 establishments in Louisiana 2008 disestablishments in Louisiana Sports venues demolished in 2010 Sports venues completed in 1938