Virginia athletic department, thank you for meeting demand with supply instantly.
Three weekends ago, during a three-game sweep of Boston College, the Virginia baseball team drew a record 9,642 fans to Davenport Field. The athletic department responded by adding 300 seats down the first baseline for the following weekend's series against then-No. 9 Clemson, increasing capacity to 3,540. Not surprisingly, the first game of the Saturday doubleheader against the Tigers was sold out, thus setting the single-game attendance record.
I have a feeling Athletic Director Craig Littlepage woke up in the middle of the night that Saturday and heard Ray Liotta whisper, "If you build it, he will come," because construction isn't complete yet. For this weekend's matchup against No. 2 Georgia Tech, an additional 679 seats will be unveiled down the first baseline, adjacent to the recently added bleachers. That's nearly 1,000 seats added in less than 15 days.
This is a great move by the athletic department and a testament to the success of the baseball program with coach Brian O'Connor and his staff. It is also a challenge to the fans. We pushed for more seats by setting attendance records, and the department is pushing back by increasing capacity. If this game continues, the home-field advantage will only get better, and that can only help our Cavaliers as they prepare to host Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and North Carolina during their last three weekend series at home against ACC opponents this season.
But allow me to get back on my soapbox and make another plea to my fellow students: Come to the games! This weekend, you'll get to see another top-10 team with future major leaguers, including Friday night starting junior pitcher Deck McGuire, who is a first-team All American and Baseball America's No. 3 college player and No. 5 draft prospect. And next weekend, you'll get to heckle the Hokies, who are quietly 20-10 this season and who just won a series on the road at No. 4 Florida State.
The baseball program is doing everything it can to get us to come to games. In addition to adding more seats, they gave out free T-shirts to students who sat in the Hoo Zone for the Saturday game against Clemson. They know us well. University students love free T-shirts, and who knows - maybe this could happen again. And if watching talented teams or building student support for the team is not reason enough to come to games, go to Davenport to bask in the sun. Nice weather is not an excuse to miss a ball game - in fact, it's another reason you should come out to Davenport. Tailgate for the games on Grounds or in the U-Hall parking lot, and support our team.
I'll step off the soapbox now and make a quick transition from my favorite college baseball team to my favorite professional team: the Chicago Cubs. Call them cursed, call them lovable losers, call them whatever you want. As is the case of every Opening Day, the Wrigley Faithful go out on a limb and declare, "This is the year!" Who cares if we've been wrong for the past 101 years? None of that matters for the 2010 team. I'm fearlessly predicting comeback seasons for 28-year old pitcher Carlos Zambrano - not including yesterday - and 34-year old outfielder Alfonso Soriano, and I'm excited to see what rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin will do after cracking the Opening Day roster, largely because he hit a .468 average during Spring Training.
Go Hoos, and Go Cubs - this is the year for both teams!
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