Russ Chandler Stadium

Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium
Rose Bowl Field
"The Rusty C"
	A view of the ballpark during a 2023 game vs North Carolina.
Former names	Rose Bowl Field (1930-1985)
Location	255 Ferst Drive, N.W.; Atlanta, Georgia 30318
Coordinates	33°46′39″N 84°23′41″W / 33.777491°N 84.394771°W
Owner	Georgia Tech
Operator	Georgia Tech Athletic Association
Capacity	Chairback Seats: 1,100; Bench Seats: 2,618; Total Seats: 3,718
Field size	Left Field - 328 ft (100 m); Left Center Field - 391 ft (119 m); Center Field - 400 ft (122 m); Right Center Field - 353 ft (108 m); Right Field - 334 ft (102 m)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Opened	1930
Renovated	1985, 2002, 2020
Construction cost	$9.7 million USD (2002 renovation)
Architect	Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK)
Tenants
	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball (ACC); ACC Tournament (1985)

Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium is a college baseball stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. It has been the home field of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets college baseball team since 1930.^[1] The current stadium opened in 2002.^[1]

History

Rose Bowl Field

The original stadium was built in 1930, using the payoff from the football team's participation in the 1929 Rose Bowl. The entire complex, which included three football practice fields, was named Rose Bowl Field. The complex stood behind a stone wall along 5th and Fowler streets.

In 1971, the permanent grandstand was torn down to make way for the extension of 5th Street. Lights were added in 1983.

Original stadium

The stadium existed with only bleacher seats until 1985, when A. Russell Chandler, III (BSIE '67) funded construction of a new grandstand that opened in time for Tech's centennial year.^[1] Fans of Georgia Tech baseball affectionately called it "The Rusty C" due to its extensive use of aluminum as a construction material.

Current stadium

The stadium was completely rebuilt in 2002. The new stadium features more brick and less aluminum in its construction materials than the previous one, but "Beesball" fans still affectionately refer to it as "The Rusty C." The stadium is located on the Georgia Tech campus in the heart of Atlanta's midtown area and offers fantastic views of the Atlanta skyline.^[2] On April 9, 2008, the stadium set an attendance record of 4,609 for the Yellow Jackets versus the Georgia Bulldogs game held that night. The crowd totally eclipsed previous marks for both post-season (4,468 vs. Southern California on June 2, 2000) and regular-season games (4,264 vs. Georgia on March 27, 2002). One ranking of college baseball stadium experiences ranks it three ^[3]

In 2020 the stadium was renovated again with a new facility called Champions Hall, as well as updated premium seating areas. This dropped the capacity from over 4,000 down to the current number of 3,718. The venue was renamed Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.^[4]

Description

A view of the new Champions Hall, which was built in 2020.

Field

Field Dimensions:

Left Field: either 328 or 329 feet (~100m), depending on whether you believe the official media guide or the foul line post.
Left Center: 391 feet (119 m)
Center Field: 400 feet (122 m)
Right Center: 353 feet (108 m)
Right Field: 334 feet (102 m)

Due to the asymmetric shape of the field, the deepest point is actually 409 feet and lies just to the left of center field.

The fence height is a uniform 10 feet.

Seating

Seating capacity: 3,718

This figure includes 1,100 chairback seats (mostly behind home plate, but also the front rows along the first and third baselines and several "open-air" skybox areas) and over 2,000 bleacher seats. There is room for additional expansion of the bleacher sections along the third base line that will bring the total seating capacity to over 4,000 seats, and there is ample spectator room adjacent to the bullpen along the first base line.^[1]

In 2013, the Yellow Jackets ranked 42nd among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 1,525 per home game.^[5]

Facilities and features

The facility has a clubhouse and locker room, training area and team rooms, indoor and outdoor hitting cages, press box, lights for night play, bench and stadium chair seating, suites, entry plaza, concessions and restrooms.^[6]

Parking

There are no dedicated parking facilities for Russ Chandler Stadium. Recommended surface lots on the Georgia Tech campus in the vicinity of the stadium include the adjacent Klaus College of Computing Parking Deck, Peters Parking Deck, and the McCamish Pavilion lot. Limited street parking may be available on campus, but those parking along Fowler Street past the right field fence and wall could be subject to damage from long home runs. The O'Keefe lot and others nearby (Architecture and Van Leer Electrical Engineering lots) are no longer available due to construction or other campus projects. Consult The Georgia Tech Athletic Association, Rusty C, or Beesball.com website links provided in the "External links" section below for maps and more detailed information on recommended parking.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The Official 2006 Georgia Tech Baseball Media Guide
^ Przygocki, Al (February 8, 2002). "The New Russ Chandler Stadium: Flashy beginning for baseball". The Technique. Retrieved September 15, 2007. ^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Russ Chandler Stadium Reviews, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | Stadium Journey". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
^ "Tech Baseball Facilities Named Mac Nease Baseball Park". Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. February 9, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
^ Cutler, Tami (June 11, 2013). "2013 Division I Baseball Attendance - Final Report" (PDF). Sportswriters.net. NCBWA. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
^ "Russ Chandler Stadium - Facilities description". Georgia Tech Athletics. June 21, 2001. Retrieved April 12, 2017.

External links

The Rusty C, a fansite maintained by the fans in Section 10 of Russ Chandler Stadium.
Beesball.com, a very popular fansite with extensive information on the Georgia Tech Baseball program.
Official Georgia Tech Baseball website
Georgia Tech Campus Parking Map

[Guide-1] The Official 2006 Georgia Tech Baseball Media Guide

[2] Przygocki, Al (February 8, 2002). "The New Russ Chandler Stadium: Flashy beginning for baseball". The Technique. Retrieved September 15, 2007. ^{[dead link‍]}

[3] "Russ Chandler Stadium Reviews, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | Stadium Journey". Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2014.

[4] "Tech Baseball Facilities Named Mac Nease Baseball Park". Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. February 9, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2022.

[13att-5] Cutler, Tami (June 11, 2013). "2013 Division I Baseball Attendance - Final Report" (PDF). Sportswriters.net. NCBWA. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2013.

[6] "Russ Chandler Stadium - Facilities description". Georgia Tech Athletics. June 21, 2001. Retrieved April 12, 2017.

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v t e Atlanta metropolitan area sports venues
Current	Atlanta Motor Speedway (Hampton) Atlanta Silverbacks Park (Atlanta) Bobby Dodd Stadium (Atlanta) Center Parc Stadium (Atlanta) Coolray Field (Lawrenceville) Eddie S Henderson Stadium (Atlanta) Fifth Third Stadium (Kennesaw) Forbes Arena (Atlanta) Gas South Arena (Duluth) Gateway Center Arena (College Park) Georgia State Convocation Center (Atlanta) GSU Sports Arena (Atlanta) Lakewood Stadium (Atlanta) KSU Convocation Center (Kennesaw) McCamish Pavilion (Atlanta) Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) Panther Stadium (Atlanta) Road Atlanta (Braselton) Russ Chandler Stadium (Atlanta) State Farm Arena (Atlanta) Truist Park (Cumberland)
Former	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta, demolished) Centennial Olympic Stadium† (Atlanta, rebuilt) Georgia Dome (Atlanta, demolished) Herndon Stadium (Atlanta, abandoned) Omni Coliseum (Atlanta, demolished) Ponce de Leon Park (Atlanta, demolished) Stone Mountain Tennis Center (Stone Mountain, demolished) Turner Field† (Atlanta, rebuilt)
Planned	The Gathering at South Forsyth (Alpharetta, proposed)
† – Centennial Olympic Stadium was rebuilt in 1997 as Turner Field. Turner Field was subsequently rebuilt in 2017 as Center Parc Stadium. See also: \|Atlanta landmarks

v t e Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball
Venues	Brisbane Park (1895–1929) Piedmont Park (alternate, 1898, 1904) Ponce de Leon Park (alternate, 1926, 1933–1934) Rose Bowl Field (1930–1985) Russ Chandler Stadium (1986–present)
Rivalries	Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate (Georgia)
People	Head coaches Players
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
College World Series appearances in italics

v t e NCAA Division I college baseball venues in Georgia
ACC	Russ Chandler Stadium (Georgia Tech)
ASUN	Fred Stillwell Stadium (Kennesaw State)
SEC	Foley Field (Georgia)
SoCon	Claude Smith Field (Mercer)
Sun Belt	Georgia State Baseball Complex (Georgia State) J. I. Clements Stadium (Georgia Southern)