Dudy Noble Field is built on a tradition of a winning spirit.
The first game ever played on the field at its current site in 1967 was a 5-3 win against Illinois Wesleyan University, and there have been many wins since then. In fact, the Mississippi State University baseball team has won over 1,000 games on Dudy Noble Field.
The construction of the field was overseen by Tom D’Armi, MSU’s assistant baseball coach under Paul Gregory from 1966 until 1973. W.G. Yates & Son completed the construction for the project. It was funded by a two-million-dollar bond project sold by the Bulldog Club along with chairback seat sales.
The name of the field comes from C.R. “Dudy” Noble, an MSU baseball, football, basketball and track player from 1910-1915. He went on to coach the baseball team for nearly twenty years from 1920 to 1948. He also served as the athletic director from 1930 to 1934 and from 1937 to 1959.
The field has been majorly renovated twice since it was built in 1967. The first renovation occurred in 1987 during Ron Polk’s first stint as head coach of MSU’s baseball team. Under Polk, MSU won five SEC tournament championships. Polk, now 82, sometimes still comes to MSU home baseball games.
The 1987 renovation cost $3.5 million, and the first game held afterward was yet another win for MSU, a 4-1 victory over Birmingham-Southern.
A short decade later, Bonnie DeMent donated $1 million in honor of her late husband Gordon DeMent, an avid fan of MSU baseball. With this came a new name for the stadium housing Dudy Noble Field: Polk-DeMent Stadium.
However, larger changes came in 2017, when the field was leveled in preparation for further renovations. Originally announced as a $40 million plan to build a two-tiered grandstand, more seating, a new Left Field Lounge and the construction of the Left Field Lots suites. By the time construction was completed before the 2019 season, the total price tag was $55 million.
The changes made to Left Field Lounge were immense. Before the renovations, fans could drive their cars and trucks up to the fence to watch the games. However, the renovations enclosed the area within the stadium. Still, estimates say that the space can accommodate over 10,000 people in addition to the 7,200 permanent seats.
Following the renovations, MSU won the national championship in 2021. While the team has not yet reached that peak again, fans remain enthusiastic about the team. The field has changed drastically over the years, yet fans still swarm in for every home game.
John Grisham, an alumnus of MSU and best-selling author, wrote an introduction for the 1992 book, “Inside Dudy Noble, A Celebration of Mississippi State Baseball,” writing that college baseball is best watched from Dudy Noble Field.
“There may be larger parks, but not larger crowds,” Grisham wrote. “There may be prettier parks, but I doubt it. Dudy Noble is college baseball at its absolute finest.”
