Sports > September 3, 2003

By Peter Bergman

Old Gold and Black Reporter

Baseball at Wake Forest … under the lights? This could be a reality as soon as next season for the Wake Forest Baseball team, according to Athletic Director Ron Wellman and sources within the Winston-Salem Warthog organization. Wake Forest has initiated discussions to move some if not all of the Baseball team’s home dates to Ernie Shore Field, which is part of the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Complex.

Ernie Shore Field is currently home of the Minor League Winston Salem Warthogs, a Carolina League affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox. The stadium is in association with Lawrence Joel Coliseum and its accompanying Annex, where Wake Forest’s Basketball teams already play. It is located across the street next to Groves Stadium, where the Wake Forest Football team plays.

According to Wake Forest Athletic Director Ron Wellman, the idea came up this past summer. “This was a mutual idea. I was talking to the owner (Warthog’s owners Billy Prim/Andrew Filipowski) about other matters, and this came up. Over the summer we began to discuss the matter further and in more detail, and I sent him some dates for consideration, and we tried to work with that. However, this is definitely not a done deal, it is simply something we are discussing.” As for a timetable on the discussions, Wellman said, “Obviously sooner rather than later, but there is no deadline. I am waiting for the owners to get back to me, and we will see where it goes from there.”

From the owners’ standpoint, Wake Forest’s use of the Ernie Shore field is financially resourceful. Currently, the Warthogs lease the city’s stadium and would like to see the Deacs make use of the complex during their away games.

“There is no status or update to speak of on the matter, but in the past Wake has played some night games at Ernie Shore field,” Co-owner Billy Prim said. “We lease this ballpark and have lots of open dates where it is not in use and believe it would be advantageous for Wake to use the facilities.”

Key to this decision is the idea of playing night games, under lights. There have been ongoing requests over the years for lighting at Wake Forest’s on campus Baseball facility, Gene Hooks Stadium. It is common thinking that night baseball games would attract more people to games, and many organizations throughout baseball history have juggled the issue. An example is that of Chicago Cubs, a professional team who after years of debate finally put lights in their historic park, Wrigley Field, in 1988, after a slew of controversy.

Wellman was quick to agree with this notion, saying “Lights definitely weighed in heavily on this decision. Lighting is very important to any baseball program, and Ernie Shore is the closest stadium to us with lights, since Hooks Stadium does not yet have them. Ernie Shore is a great ballpark.”

Over the summer there were reports that the Warthogs were thinking of building a stadium in downtown Winston-Salem. However, Wellman assured that such a proposal has nothing to do with playing home dates at Ernie Shore, because even if the Warthogs act on this possibility, it would be at least three years before anything could get done.

Another issue at stake is the situation of playing games off campus. Ernie Shore is in close proximity to campus, but as senior infielder Nick Blue stated, it has a whole other feeling to it. “While we are definitely in favor of night games, Ernie Shore Field has never offered the same ‘home-field’ advantage that Gene Hooks (our on-campus field) does. Playing at Ernie Shore is very comparable to selecting a neutral site to hold contests. Not much different from a road game.” Blue was also quick to point out that the team has played games at Ernie Shore in the past, and their record in those games is far below those played at Hooks.

Students so far have had mixed reactions to the news, however it was mainly negative. Junior Jonathan McCracken said, “We already have to go off campus for football and basketball games, and the on-campus stadium (Hooks Stadium) is so nice. I am disappointed, it was just easier to be able to walk to the games.”

Some students, such as Freshman Jim Vizuth, could not understand why baseball under the lights was so special. “I like games during the day better, that’s the way baseball is meant to be played, it’s just more historic. We have such a great facility on campus too, it’s secluded from the rest of school but still easily within walking distance,” Vizuth said.

Bringing lights to Hooks Stadium on campus seems like a solution, however there have been petitions in the past from the homeowners’ association to prevent such actions, as it would devalue the property and disrupt homeowners — the stadium’s neighbors.

Blue agreed with this solution.

“I know that I speak for all of our players in that we would love to play night games at home,” he said.

“First and foremost, playing under the lights would allow us to draw considerably larger crowds. Many students are still in classes or practices when our games start at 2:30 and 3:00 in the afternoon and most non-student fans are working throughout most of our mid-week games.”

Whether or not the baseball team will be playing games at Ernie Shore next season is yet to be seen, however the debates over the situation will rage on. There are many factors to weigh, such as location and attendance numbers with night-games. Either way these discussions in themselves show that the Athletic Department is serious in bringing the Deacons under the lights and introducing night baseball to Wake Forest.