Joe Nathan Field is 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 ...
field
Field may refer to:
Expanses of open ground
* Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes
* Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport
* Battlefield
* Lawn, an area of mowed grass
* Meadow, a grass ...
on the
campus of
Stony Brook University in
Stony Brook,
New York, United States. The field is home to the team of the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I America East Conference
The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States.
The conference has nine core members including eight public research ...
. It is located at the northern end of the school's athletics complex.
[Facilities & Directions](_blank)
at goseawolves.cstv.com, URL accessed October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009 The field opened on May 20, 2011, replacing Stony Brook's old baseball field, which was known as University Field from 2002 to 2011. The old facility was known as Seawolves Field through the 2002 season, when its name was changed to University Field.
at seawolves.cstv.com, URL accessed October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009
at seawolves.cstv.com, URL accessed October 7, 2009
October 7, 2009
The stadium is named after then–
Minnesota Twins pitcher and Stony Brook alumnus
Joe Nathan
Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cu ...
, after Nathan's $500,000 gift made extensive renovations possible. The stadium's construction cost was $1.3 million.
History
In August 2008, the Joe Nathan Charitable Foundation donated $500,000 to the Stony Brook athletic department for the construction of a new baseball facility. Construction on the field took place from 2010 to 2011. Compared to the previous University Field, the dimensions of left and right field expanded from 320 to 330 feet, while center field was reduced from 410 to 390 feet, and the grass surface was replaced with FieldTurf.
The field opened on May 20, 2011, for a doubleheader against
Albany. In the first game played on the field, Stony Brook defeated Albany 6–2.
Nick Tropeano
Nicholas Paul Tropeano (born August 27, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Pittsb ...
was the first player to pitch on Joe Nathan Field.
Joe Nathan Field has hosted the
America East Conference baseball tournament in
2011,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, and
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
.
2021 championship game controversy
Joe Nathan Field was typically barred from hosting the America East baseball tournament because the facility lacks lights to allow for nighttime play. However, as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the America East announced that the 2021 tournament would be held at the site of the regular season champion regardless of its standards, allowing for Stony Brook to host.
This ended in controversy when the America East postponed and later canceled the championship game between Stony Brook and
NJIT
{{Infobox university
, name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology
, image = New Jersey IT seal.svg
, image_upright = 0.9
, former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...
with Stony Brook up 1–0 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third inning. As the field lacked lights, the game could not be completed and the America East awarded NJIT the bid to the NCAA tournament, despite Stony Brook being regular season champions, because NJIT had yet to lose in the double-elimination tournament while Stony Brook had lost once. The decision resulted in significant negative backlash against the America East.
Later that year, Stony Brook athletic director Shawn Heilbron expressed a need to renovate Joe Nathan Field with a master plan completed, but needed to raise $5 million in order to make it happen.
Gallery
File:JoeNathanEntrance.jpg, The entrance to Joe Nathan Field.
File:Joe Nathan Field.jpeg, Joe Nathan Field during a Stony Brook baseball game in 2019.
File:Nathan Retired Jersey SBU.jpeg, Joe Nathan's retired No. 22 on the bleachers of Joe Nathan Field.
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I baseball venues
References
External links
Joe Nathan FieldStony Brook University, Joe Nathan Field Master Plan
{{New York NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox
College baseball venues in the United States
Sports venues in New York (state)
Sports venues in Suffolk County, New York
Stony Brook Seawolves baseball
Baseball venues in New York (state)
2011 establishments in New York (state)
Sports venues completed in 2011