Virginia baseball coach Brian O'Connor has a special request for Virginia's student body: Show up and be rowdy this weekend at Davenport Field when the Cavaliers take on Boston College in a critically important three-game series. These three games could make or break Virginia's positioning in the ACC's Coastal Division, and O'Connor wants to encourage Virginia's students to come out in full force to help send the Eagles back to Boston licking grievous wounds.
Students no longer have an excuse for not showing up at baseball games. O'Connor brought a winning brand of baseball with him when he arrived in Charlottesville three years ago, and Davenport Field itself has been upgraded into one of the premier baseball facilities in the ACC. The fan experience at Davenport will only improve in 2007 when a video scoreboard is installed. Future plans for expanded seating along the baselines as well as outfield grandstand seating are also in the works. Virginia has made the commitment to building a top-tier baseball program, and it is time for the student body to respond.
While attendance has improved in recent years, there is still a palpable level of apathy toward the baseball program among the student body. At many schools, baseball games are must-see events. At Vanderbilt, for example, students camp out for prime positioning at Hawkins Field. To me, it seems puzzling that student support for Virginia baseball has not markedly increased as the program's success has skyrocketed in recent years. It seems to me as if Virginia baseball games could easily become prime tailgating and social events for Virginia students. There is nothing more relaxing than an afternoon at the ballpark.
Even among the students that do come to games, there is nowhere near the level of passionate rowdiness that is exhibited at football or basketball games and, to a lesser extent, soccer and lacrosse games. Students need to remember that this is baseball, not Sunday Mass. While Virginia may have one of the nicer stadiums in the conference, it is lacking the strong level of student fan support that would give the Cavaliers a true home field advantage.
Over the past two seasons, I have covered or attended baseball games at several other ACC schools, and I have seen the effect that a raucous student section can have on the action on the diamond. Of the schools I have visited, the fans at Clemson, Florida State and N.C. State create the most intimidating environments for opposing squads. Clemson is a scary place because of how intimidating its fans are, while Florida State's fans easily translate their ardor for football to the baseball diamond.
N.C. State provides a model that could be emulated by Virginia. N.C. State's students congregate down the third base line in a section designated as Avent's Army in honor of N.C. State coach Elliott Avent. The students use statistics and various other interesting informational tidbits to relentlessly get under the skin of the Cavaliers.
I have played in or witnessed hundreds of baseball games in my lifetime, and I can hardly remember heckling that was more effective than that which spewed forth from the mouths of Avent's Army. Virginia never appeared to be comfortable on the field during a weekend in which it was swept by the Wolfpack. I truly feel that Virginia would have won at least one of those games if the series was played in front of a placid crowd.
Virginia's students could easily create such an environment at Davenport Field. Virginia's players and coaches have exerted enormous efforts to bring a good name to Virginia baseball, and they deserve the steadfast support of the student body. So come out to Davenport Field this weekend and give those Eagles a rude welcoming to Davenport Field. O'Connor and his players will be most appreciative.
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