Bakich primed for more rowdy fans as baseball stadium undergoes change

Erik Bakich was helped in a spring training start by Yankees player Jazz Chisholm, who works with the new apparel company the Tigers use.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Friday, January 24 2025

CLEMSON – Erik Bakich is ready for all of his rowdy friends in Doug Kingsmore Stadium this spring.

Clemson’s head coach met with the media Thursday to preview the upcoming season and noted the changes inside the Tigers’ home field.

The visitor’s bullpen has been moved out of its previous home – an enclosed section just outside of the visiting dugout – and has been moved into foul territory along the left field line. All of foul territory is now synthetic turf, allowing the coaches the ability to supervise drills.

“We had those concrete wings that would get dirty and look terrible and the natural grass, it was a high traffic area, and it would get worn out,” Bakich said. “So not only did the turf look better, but we can now use this as a development area. We can take ground balls, we can do speed and agility, we can do whatever. So, there's a functionality from a more training rep standpoint. We'll never turf the field because this is Clemson and we want that traditional feel, but the turf and foul territory gives us a lot of more options and training.”

Moving the bullpen out into the field of play – a foul ball can be caught for an out in the bullpen area – is also a big change.

“The biggest thing, if you look over there, we moved the visiting team bullpen out onto foul territory,” Bakich said. “So forever and ever it seems like opposing teams, they might've had massage tables over there, they were fed grapes and had olive branches. I mean it was the most comfortable, gigantic bullpen, the easiest place to go be an opposing pitcher. And now we went 180 from that and hopefully make it one of the toughest places to be an opposing pitcher. Not much room in that whole area.”

The area that served as the opposing bullpen will now host a beer garden, with the potential for beer sales being explored.

“That bullpen is now more of a beer garden and that's a standing room only ticket,” Bakich said. “We're going to be selling beer this year, which is huge. We want the rowdy crowd, we want the beer drinking crowd. We want people to come out here and have a glass and the opposing pitchers is going to have to get warm right in front of that section. So I'm excited to see how that looks.”

Clemson will open its home schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m., when the Tigers take on Presbyterian College.

Some changes at Doug Kingsmore... Notice the script Clemson behind home plate. It's turf past the foul line (which won't have to be painted) and opponent bullpen is now inside the fence. pic.twitter.com/68scLFSBQU
— David Hood (@MDavidHood) January 23, 2025