Sewell–Thomas Stadium 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 tea ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

. It is the home field of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

Crimson Tide

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

team. The stadium opened in 1948 and the current

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

is 8,500. The stadium is commonly referred to as "The Joe".

Coleman Coliseum Coleman Coliseum is a 15,383-seat multi-purpose arena in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on the campus of the University of Alabama. It is the current home of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's and women's basketball and women's gymnastics teams, and previous ...

, the home to Crimson Tide basketball, is located beyond the right field fence. Sewell–Thomas sits across Paul W. Bryant Drive (formerly 10th Street) from the Bryant Museum and Conference Center.

History

The stadium opened as Thomas Field on March 26, 1948, in honor of former Tide head football coach and athletic director Frank Thomas, with a capacity of 2,000. In 1978, a bill was introduced by undergraduate SGA Senator Mike Harrington to rename the stadium Sewell–Thomas Stadium, adding the name of former Alabama player and head coach

Joe Sewell Joseph Wheeler "Joe" Sewell (October 9, 1898 – March 6, 1990) was a Major League Baseball infielder for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. Sewell holds the record for the lowest s ...

, who had just been inducted into the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

in 1977. Alabama has ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance many times, particularly during the tenure of Jim Wells. In several years, the program has been in the nation's top 5 teams in average home attendance over the years, including second-place finishes in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2013, the Crimson Tide ranked 14th among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 3,262 per home game.

Major renovations

In 2013, the University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved a $30 million full-renovation project for the stadium.Alabama baseball could play in Hoover in 2015 while Sewell-Thomas Stadium is renovated
/ref> While using some existing structures, the renovations essentially create a brand-new stadium. Renovations began immediately following the 2014 season and forced the team to play their home games at the

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, also known as The Hoover Met, is a former minor league baseball stadium located in Hoover, Alabama, United States, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham. It was home of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern Lea ...

during the 2015 season. The project was completed for the start of the 2016 season. Renovations included 12 suites, a new outfield walk that connects with the concourse, a playground and mini infield for families, a pre-game picnic area, team store, commissary, new seats, and an expanded canopy overhang over the primary seating area. New player amenities include a home team locker room and lounge, showers and restrooms, meeting room, weight room, bullpen and a four-lane indoor batting facility. The new

is 5,800 chair-back seats, plus 2,700 standing room only.

References

External links

Sewell-Thomas Stadium
College baseball venues in the United States Alabama Crimson Tide baseball Baseball venues in Alabama Sports venues in Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1948 establishments in Alabama Sports venues completed in 1948 {{Alabama-baseball-venue-stub

History

Major renovations

See also

References

External links