Work nearly complete on ballfield’s expansion

ALBUQUERQUE — In a time when the word shutdown has become part of the daily vernacular, the sounds of silence at the University of New Mexico’s baseball facility have been temporarily replaced by those of construction.

Gone are the empty spans of dirt and sidewalk extending from the grandstand to the end of each team’s dugout. In their place is the skeletal superstructure that will hold permanent bleachers that will triple the seating capacity of Santa Ana Star Field.

Construction crews were busy all this week readying the metal framework for a deep row of seats that will rise as high as the seating structure already in place. Aside from the occasional car passing through the nearby Pit parking lot, it was the only activity in that part of the South Campus when Lobos head coach Ray Birmingham met with the media earlier this week.

“With all that’s going on, it’s a sight to see,” he said.

Hired away from New Mexico Junior College in 2008, Birmingham has seen the facility undergo a dramatic transformation since he arrived on campus. He inherited a park not much different than a decent high school facility.

The grass surface had no lights, small dugouts, an unpadded outfield wall and an unforgiving concrete grandstand that made settling in almost as difficult as following the action from poor sightlines.

Over the years, there have been significant changes, ranging from a landscaped entryway that links the baseball and softball complexes, lights, a turf field, bullpens, a new scoreboard and bigger dugouts. Toss in a $2.3 million clubhouse down the rightfield line, and things were looking pretty good.

But, as Birmingham said, the Lobos could go undefeated and be ranked No. 1 in the country and still be denied homefield advantage in the NCAA postseason because the facility didn’t meet the minimum requirements to host a subregional or super-regional series.

“We want Lobo baseball to be the best program in this part of the country, and part of that is having a home that shows it off,” he said. “If we ever got to that place that lets us host a tournament game, we don’t want the NCAA saying our place isn’t good enough.”

The school successfully lobbied state lawmakers in January to get enough money to expand the grandstand to the outer end of each dugout, raising capacity to about 4,000. That will include protective netting on each side.

“With all the stuff going on during this [health] crisis, at least we’ve had the time and ability to do some housekeeping projects like the baseball field,” said UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez.

By August the infield turf will be replaced and, with good fortune, Birmingham said, the new press box will follow within a year or two. That, he said, will be a big undertaking as it will require an elevator for disabled access, as well as a seating capacity that roughly quadruples the current configuration.

“I could put the [elevator] in the press box right now, but I’d have to get a rope and a pulley system to make it work because we just don’t have the money for it right now,” Birmingham said. “But we’re getting there. It’s going to get done.”

The uptick in funding for baseball’s modest infrastructure coincides with the program avoiding the financial guillotine two years ago when the university was forced to cut a number of sports for budgetary reasons. Baseball was rumored to be on the chopping block, but men’s soccer was axed instead.

The rumors of baseball’s demise at UNM had a negative impact on recruiting. Birmingham said his program’s losses amounted to about two years’ worth of recruiting. Prospects would catch wind of baseball’s problems, he said, and go elsewhere.

It started to go in the right direction this past season with the Lobos winning 14 of their first 18 games and garnering attention in national polls. The Lobos were in Austin, Texas, for a three-game series against Texas in mid-March when the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were about to show people that Lobo baseball was back when all this started,” Birmingham said. “We’re just going to have to wait a little longer.”

When the wait finally ends, at least the surroundings will be that much better.