Driving Directions | Photo Gallery | Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation Baseball Museum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tony Gwynn Stadium became the new home of the San Diego State baseball program during the 1997 season. Upon its opening, Baseball America ranked Tony Gwynn Stadium as the fifth-best collegiate facility in the nation and the second-best park in the western half of the nation. Groundbreaking for this project took place on August 21, 1996. The $4 million facility was made possible through the generosity of former San Diego Padres owner John Moores and his wife Becky, who donated the funds to make former Aztec head coach Jim Dietz's dream of a state-of-the-art stadium at SDSU a reality. The structure is named in honor of the former Aztec player, head coach and MLB Hall of Famer. The playing field remains Charlie Smith Field in honor of the long-time former San Diego State head coach. It retains its former dimensions of 340 feet down the left field line, 340 feet down the right field line, and 412 to dead center field. Distance to the power alleys is 365 feet. Additional area has been added between home plate and the backstop (now 45 feet), and the warning track in the outfield has been widened to 20 feet. The field itself is a natural turf (Tif Santa Ana grass), while the infield and warning track utilize crushed brick dust. The most recent field improvement consists of artificial field turf that extends from the end of each dugout in foul territory outside the base lines. The turf was installed prior to the start of the 2010 season. In addition, a large Aztec logo now occupies the area directly behind home plate. The playing field is enclosed by a 10-foot high green wall made of a modern material designed to be resilient upon contact. The outfield wall features advertising signage as well as a panel chronicling SDSU's appearances in the NCAA Regionals. Beyond the right-field fence are three larger banners honoring former Aztec legends Stephen Strasburg, Tony Gwynn and Travis Lee. Stadium lighting consists of six poles using 2000-watt fixtures, making the facility one of the most well-lit fields in college and professional baseball. The stadium's new electronic videoboard, installed prior to the start of the 2023 season, is located behind the right centerfield fence and features a complete line score as well as video playback capability. Seating capacity of the stadium is 3,000, and that number could reach as high as 4,000 in the future. Of the 2,200 permanent seats installed during the initial phase of construction, 800 were armchair-style around the stadium at the field level. With the addition of new seating in May 2005, that number has increased to over 1,800, as more than 1,000 chair back seats were installed in the plaza level from first to third base. The remaining seats are comprised of bleacher benches that extend down both base lines. Among the amenities contained within the stadium itself are the following: A Ticket Trailer is located behind the stadium along the first base side to serve fans' needs at all games.
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