“I'm sending a message that my legs feel good. My legs have never felt like this in August. I have to commend that new turf for that. My legs feel great. This field is really good for your body.”
Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins
PK Park ready for Ducks’ first home opener in 28 years
Feb 11, 2009
The Register-Guard
by Adam Jude
The first phase of construction at PK Park, the University of Oregon’s new baseball field, is “98 percent” complete, and the facility will be ready for the Ducks’ first home game in 28 years, UO senior associate athletic director Joe Giansante said Wednesday.
Giansante said a few minor details remain to be completed before the Ducks host defending national champion Fresno State for a three-game series beginning Feb. 27, namely painting and hanging banners on outfield fences and light structures.
A few signs have already been placed near the outfield scoreboard and videoboard, including two beer advertisements.
Giansante confirmed that beer will be served at UO games in a covered “hospitality tent” near the right-field section of stands, an area that will operate under the same rules as the Moshofsky Center during UO football games.
“It’s part of the culture of baseball; it’s germane to it,” Giansante said of the beer sales. “It’s a much different experience than going to a football game.”
He said the designated area at PK Park will be similar to the beer garden at Civic Stadium during Eugene Emeralds’ games.
“The only difference (at UO games) is you can’t take beer out of that area,” Giansante said, adding that “the area will be monitored by the appropriate people.”
When the UO athletic department decided to bring back baseball, Giansante said one of the goals was to make the program profitable, and “the only way to do that is to make money in concessions.”
Oregon opens its first season since 1981 on the road against Saint Mary’s on Feb. 20.
Seating capacity at PK Park will be about 2,000. Only “a few” standing-room-only seats remain for the Ducks’ first home series, said Giansante, who has overseen most of the development of the program and the park.
“We wanted to make the ballpark interesting, and I think we were successful in that,” he said.
“In our minds, it’s the best in the Pac-10, and won’t be close.”
Temporary seating areas were part of the first phase of construction; permanent seats, concourses, suites, locker rooms and a roof covering the stands will be part of the second phase, which will begin immediately after the Ducks’ final home game on May 24, Giansante said.
The Ducks have been practicing on the synthetic FieldTurf since Feb. 2, and Giansante said he’s heard rave reviews from the players using the field.
“It couldn’t be better,” he said. “Everybody is thrilled with it. The guys love the surface. You can’t tell it’s not grass.”
The team is scheduled to play a scrimmage at 1:30 p.m. Friday as part of its organized media day, though the practice is not open to the public because the facility is still considered a construction zone.The following material was derived from foreign sources and is only available in its original language.
