New rules in right field rankle students
Right field was a perfect backdrop for the signature moment the University of Alabama’s baseball team had been looking for.
The student section edging the outfield erupted when freshman Chandler Taylor christened the rebuilt Sewell-Thomas Stadium with its first home run. Taylor’s shot in the bottom of the first inning of a 3-1 victory over Maryland in the season opener rocketed over the outfield fence and into the waiting arms of 1,300 Alabama students.
The home run sparked a sudsy celebration as many in the student-only section tossed their drinks in the air.
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had,” said Will Elliott, an Alabama sophomore who was at the game.
A capacity crowd of 1,300 students crowded into right field again the next night. Those over age 21 hauled in coolers of alcoholic beverages and received special wristbands permitting them to drink while taking in the games, per UA policy.
“Obviously, having a capacity crowd in the right-field terrace is a good thing,” associate athletics director Chris Besanceney said. “The crowd that we had for Maryland was really good in terms of numbers, and that’s what we had envisioned when we created that area for students.”
The momentum continued on through other weekend series early in the season as students continued to flock to the new stadium. They came for baseball and for the atmosphere, fueled partially by the alcohol allowed in the closed-off, right-field area.
“It was awesome,” UA senior J.B. Costello said. “I feel like everybody behaved themselves. It lived up to the hype of a brand new stadium and a new year.”
Costello and Elliott manage the @BamaRightField Twitter account, an unofficial mouthpiece of student baseball fans at Alabama. The account, nicknamed “Right Field Ragers,” has more than 5,000 followers.
New guidelines, new issues
UA athletics issued new guidelines for the right field seating area before the Crimson Tide’s most recent weekend series against Ole Miss, which started April 15. Among the changes: community coolers, shared between several students, were no longer permitted; liquor was banned outright; and each student over 21 was allowed a limit of six beers for the game.
Student attendance has fallen off significantly since then. Elliott and Costello guessed about 1,000 students total attended UA’s three home games against Ole Miss. The crowds that had packed the grassy seating area earlier in the year vaporized.
The right-field seating area has drawn attention this year. Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard said visiting coaches have complimented the atmosphere created by students. Crimson Tide players often go to greet fans there after the game.
There have also been some issues. Two fans sitting in the section poured beer on a Tennessee outfielder during a play at the wall. Besanceney said those two fans were ejected for “vulgarity and throwing of beverages onto the visiting team.” They were warned about their behavior during the game before being thrown out and were arrested after the game.
That is the only documented issue with the right-field seating this year, Besanceney, Elliott and Costello all said.
“That was pretty serious in the minds of a lot of people of responsibility and responsible positions,” Besanceney said. “Something had to change and get looked at after that. The next stop is obviously something that none of us want, and that is that there is no alcohol or beer in there, period.”
Costello said he felt the new regulations were an “overreaction,” considering the thousands of students who have attended games peaceably during the season.
“We guess there’s probably been 15,000 (students) out there the whole year and there’s been one idiot who messed it up for everybody,” Elliott said. “We’ve been behaving ourselves. ... I guess that’s what we were so ticked off about. That’s what everybody’s ticked off about.”
Costello and Elliott say they understand that more rules were necessary, and agree with some of the new regulations. But they believe the university went too far, too fast and didn’t consider the impact on students. They also say students were not given a warning or any indication UA had significant concerns with student behavior before the change in policy.
“It was from zero to 100,” Elliott said. “They didn’t even go to 50. If they’d gone to 50 and said, ‘OK, 12 beers and that’s it,’ that would have been fine. Don’t go from ‘Whatever you want to do’ to ‘Six beers and little-bitty coolers.’ They skipped that middle step.”
For its part, Alabama athletics says it worked to accommodate the students. The new policy is modeled off the alcohol policy for Greekfest, an on-campus concert held each fall. Athletics officials consulted with Alabama’s student government association and the office of student affairs to write the new alcohol policy issued during mid-season.
Their goal was to find consistency with other events for students on campus. That led to the adopting the same policy used at Greekfest.
“I think when you take a look at what was implemented, we didn’t take anything away per se because you can still take a cooler with beer on that portion of the terrace area,” Besanceney said. “That portion hasn’t changed. What changed obviously was the amount per person you could bring in and the size of the cooler and that was it. Everything else is the same.”
Before and after
The contrast in crowd size in right field following the rules change has been unmistakable. The section, previously filled, was less than half full.
Several current and former players have taken note. Some UA players tweeted the hashtag #MakeRightFieldGreatAgain during and after the Ole Miss series as student crowds withered away. Catcher Tanner DeVinny, second baseman Cobie Vance, outfielder Keith Holcombe all tweeted about it, and several teammates retweeted them.
So did former UA great Taylor Dugas.
“From (right fielder) Chandler Taylor’s perspective, you’ve got 2,500 buddies out there in right field with a ton of noise, being loud, applauding you and everything,” Elliott said. “The next weekend you walk out and there’s maybe 500 out there.”
The students in right field are in close proximity to the visiting team’s bullpen and the corner outfielder. There’s jeering when an opposing right fielder tracks down a fly ball. Students are close enough to taunt pitchers as they warm up.
The right field section involves students in the action. Gaspard said the Crimson Tide players can feel it.
“The one thing I feel like baseball and our right-field section provides is a connection with our players,” Gaspard said. “For one, it’s their peers. It’s their student body that they’re part of. You can see after big wins, our players go and give them high fives after the game. They’re very important to our team. They provide energy to our team and our players are very aware when they’re out there. I think that gives them more juice throughout the game.”
Alabama falls somewhere in the middle of SEC schools with its new policy on alcohol. Four schools allow no alcohol at their baseball facilities. Three more only have alcohol in premium seating areas, such as club seats or luxury boxes.
Seven schools, including Alabama, have some viewing area for fans where alcohol can be consumed. SEC rules prohibit schools from selling alcohol at concession stands or making it available in general seating areas. Alcohol can be consumed in privately-leased areas or specially-designated areas.
Baseball is also an anomaly among UA sports. Sewell-Thomas Stadium’s grass berm in right field is the only place students of legal drinking age are allowed to drink during athletics events.
“A drastic policy would have been eliminating the alcohol, period,” Besanceney said.
Costello and Elliott would like to propose a compromise they believe would draw students back to games while still accommodating for the university’s concerns. They agree hard liquor should not be permitted, but would like to see the limit raised to 12 beers or removed altogether. They’d also like to see larger coolers permitted in right field again. They say most students don’t have smaller lunchbox-sized coolers, and several students used their larger coolers to double as seats in the grassy right-field area.
They also suggested a line could be painted on the seating area closest to the field. Students who are drinking wouldn’t be allowed over the line, alleviating some concern about inebriated students coming in contact with players during plays that take place at the wall.
“That would be an easy resolution,” Elliott said. “There would be no issues at all if you did that.”
Winding down
Besanceney said the policy in place in right field now would remain there through the rest of this season. Alabama’s regular season ends on May 21, but finals week for undergraduates begins next Monday. Most students will likely leave for the summer before the Crimson Tide’s final two home series, against Auburn from May 6-8 and South Carolina from May 19-21.
This weekend’s series against Mississippi State today through Saturday will be the final home games during which most UA students will be in Tuscaloosa. UA’s goal for the right-field area remains the same as it was at the start of the season, new rules or not.
“Our vision would be that (right field) is full and people are having a good time and behaving themselves and maintaining sportsmanship and packing the house,” Besanceney said. “That’s been our goal all along, to create an area for them. For students.”
But if student reaction to the new policies hasn’t softened from the Ole Miss series, it’s unlikely right field will be full this weekend.
“People were talking about it (earlier this season),” Elliott said. “It’s more of a social event. We’d get a hit and people would go crazy or we’d hit a home run and there’d be a beer shower and all that.
“Now it’s just sad.”
Reach Ben Jones at ben@tidesports.com or 205-722-0196.
No. 3 Mississippi State at Alabama
Where: Sewell-Thomas Stadium
Schedule: Today at 6:30 p.m., Fridayat7 p.m.,Saturday at 3 p.m.
Records: Alabama 24-18, 9-9 SEC; Mississippi State 28-13-1, 10-8 SEC
TV: ESPNU (Thursday only)Radio: 99.1 FM