1976
- Thread starter KurtRambis4
- Start date
Bragan was gone, he had another job in the bag. Polk was hired at an unnamed hotel/motel in Baton Rouge, LA the night before the LSU game, that we won. Strat had a LOT to do with the details of that hire, because he was associated with GA State before he came to MS State and worked with Ron Polk....and he was the one who put together the details of the trip to BR. Coach Shira...the AD at the time asked Strat....."how do we get in touch with this guy?"
You have to realize that back then the baseball coaches were absolutely at the bottom of the totem pole. Bragan was head baseball coach and was responsible for the grounds upkeep for the football field and coordinating with the AG dept to keep it fertilized and cut correctly. He was in constant movement trying to find the 2 shiftless "groundskeepers" named "Red" and "Rabbit." I could tell tales for hours about those 2 "professionals."
Hell, Bragan was in charge of the whole Baseball team by himself. That's why RP was such a change of the guard..... at MSU and in the SEC. Baseball coaches were making 20k and were responsible for a couple of duties on campus And by the way....put a good team on the field. Ron Polk and Skip Bertman were solely responsible for making baseball in the SEC such a high profile sport. I can't tell you how far it came in a very short period of time. It was like a rock concert during special weekends of double headers.
It's very hard to describe how low baseball was viewed across the nation in the early to mid 70's.
The Left Field Lounge? Hell, the origins of that was that there was an entrance on the backside from Hwy 82. You took your date to the Crossroads...flashed your lights in the parking lot....and got a couple of 6 packs to go. Drove back to campus, and watched the game. If she was hot, you might get laid out there. If not, then you sat on the car or truck, drank beer out of a cup, and yelled at the outfielders...and just hung out. It was great fun, with benign attention from "Security." It was one of the greatest periods of college life..
And still is! We have something at MS State that is incomparable. Our new Head Coach knows it....that's why he picked up the phrase from his wife...."Carnegie Hall" of baseball. It's just very special.
You have to realize that back then the baseball coaches were absolutely at the bottom of the totem pole. Bragan was head baseball coach and was responsible for the grounds upkeep for the football field and coordinating with the AG dept to keep it fertilized and cut correctly. He was in constant movement trying to find the 2 shiftless "groundskeepers" named "Red" and "Rabbit." I could tell tales for hours about those 2 "professionals."
Hell, Bragan was in charge of the whole Baseball team by himself. That's why RP was such a change of the guard..... at MSU and in the SEC. Baseball coaches were making 20k and were responsible for a couple of duties on campus And by the way....put a good team on the field. Ron Polk and Skip Bertman were solely responsible for making baseball in the SEC such a high profile sport. I can't tell you how far it came in a very short period of time. It was like a rock concert during special weekends of double headers.
It's very hard to describe how low baseball was viewed across the nation in the early to mid 70's.
The Left Field Lounge? Hell, the origins of that was that there was an entrance on the backside from Hwy 82. You took your date to the Crossroads...flashed your lights in the parking lot....and got a couple of 6 packs to go. Drove back to campus, and watched the game. If she was hot, you might get laid out there. If not, then you sat on the car or truck, drank beer out of a cup, and yelled at the outfielders...and just hung out. It was great fun, with benign attention from "Security." It was one of the greatest periods of college life..
And still is! We have something at MS State that is incomparable. Our new Head Coach knows it....that's why he picked up the phrase from his wife...."Carnegie Hall" of baseball. It's just very special.
early 70's. Ripple was very popular in those days as well. Also the "Prof's" let class out early to attend baseball games, plus where the Hump is located was known as "the world's largest parking at night" for students.
I saw crowds in the 8,000 range, I also remeber the first night game, someone gave $100,000 for the lights to be installed (1972 I believe).
I saw crowds in the 8,000 range, I also remeber the first night game, someone gave $100,000 for the lights to be installed (1972 I believe).
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