A Tale Of Two Ballparks

They're about a mile apart by car -- less as the crow flies -- but Capital City Stadium and Carolina Stadium in Columbia have little in common other than both are home to college baseball programs -- South Carolina and Benedict, respectively.

I'd been by Capital City Stadium dozens -- if not hundreds -- of times before, but had never had the opportunity to take in a game there until Wednesday's Benedict-Elizabeth City State game.

It's quite different from its new neighbor.

* The grandstand area was clean, but spartan and showing its age, unlike the colorful and ornate seating areas at Carolina Stadium.
* There's more than enough parking -- all free, no permit needed -- to meet demand.
* There were no lines to buy tickets, because there was no admission charge.
* If there was a grounds crew, I didn't see it. There was no pre-game re-lining of the foul lines and the home plate area. The grass looked to be in decent shape, but didn't have the finely manicured look of newer stadiums.
* The National Anthem wasn't played before the game.
* Lineups weren't announced and batters weren't introduced. There was a working PA system, though, because music was played between innings.
* There were -- perhaps -- a dozen spectators (at left is the biggest group at the beginning of the game) when the game began. The crowd never doubled in size during the two-plus hours I was there.
* There was no crowd of kids scrambling for foul balls. When the first one landed in the stands, I ambled over, picked it up and walked down to the Benedict dugout to return it. One man with a preschooler -- maybe a grandchild -- stopped by for a couple of innings. Otherwise, everyone was college age or older. Granted, it was a school day afternoon.
* There were no overpriced concessions, because there was no concession stand open. I went to my car during a pitching change to get a drink and someone asked where I got it. I told him, much to his disappointment. I had a cup, so I offered to share the drink with his girlfriend. Later, one man went to the Sonic Drive-In up Assembly Street to take advantage of Happy Hour and bring back a couple of soft drinks.
* There no between-innings promotions, contests or T-shirt tosses. If Benedict had offered as many promotions as USC does, every spectator would have gone home a winner -- some multiple times.

Because of programs like Clemson, The Citadel and USC and teams in leagues like the SEC, it's easy to forget that the game experience at the average college program is probably closer to the one at Capital City Stadium than the one at Carolina Stadium.

Coaches like Benedict's Derrick Johnson deserve praise for what they do, because there's very little glamor to their jobs and perhaps even more limited resources with which to do them .

Between the lines, the game is similar at both places. In fact, on Wednesday there a couple of major similarities between the ECSU/Benedict and Wofford/USC games -- pitchers struggled to throw strikes and the games moved slowly. Both lasted about 3:45. Benedict won, 17-13, and Wofford won, 16-8

Benedict leadoff man Cameron Scott (shown rounding third on a first-inning homer as head coach Derrick Johnson watches; note the corner of an outfield wall sign flopped over) had hit for the cycle -- and stolen home -- by the fourth inning, but didn't get a memento of his feat. The official scorer tried to get the attention of someone on the field to get the ball taken out of play after Scott tripled in the fourth, but the ball went back in the umpire's bag before anyone on the field realized what had happened.

It could never be said that players or coaches for either team were doing what they were doing for glory or attention, because there was little of either.

Obviously, they share a love of baseball.