This weekend marks the end of an era for Oklahoma State University baseball, as the program will play its final home series at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Oklahoma State baseball has been preparing for a transition. It is slated play its home games beginning in 2020 at the brand-new O’Brate Stadium, which is currently under construction and will replace Allie P. Reynolds Stadium once it opens.
While the opening of a new ballpark will reflect continued growth for Oklahoma State baseball, program officials–including head coach Josh Holliday–are noting the impact of Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. Plenty of fond memories have been created at the facility since its 1981 opening, and the way in which it allowed the program to grow over the decades is being recognized as Oklahoma State prepares for its upcoming regular-season series against Baylor. More from Ocolly.com:
Their final regular-season series in the humble but historic venue will start at 6:35 p.m. Thursday against No. 12 Baylor. Holliday is moving out of a home his team has outgrown. He drives past O’Brate Stadium and notes the progress, happily anticipating its debut in 2020, but, as he pointed out, the Cowboys’ future wouldn’t be possible without the legacy built at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
Holliday spent his childhood in the ballpark while Tom Holliday, his father, worked as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator under Gary Ward from 1977-1996 before he followed Ward as coach from 1996-2003. A young Holliday practiced in the batting cages, watched former Cowboy legends like [Robin] Ventura and mischievously grabbed bubblegum from Ward’s desk drawer, he recalled.
“Those were the markers in your brain as a little kid of why you came to the field,” Holliday said.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium, named after a legendary Cowboy athlete and six-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees, opened in 1981. Although O’Brate Stadium, with its towering lights and expansive seating, will overshadow its predecessor in grandeur, Allie P. Reynolds Stadium is a scrapbook in ballpark form. The classic venue’s simple wooden dugout benches and compact press box are symbols of baseball in an earlier era, before the flood of new technologies and concert-like game environments.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium was first used by the baseball program upon its completion in 1981, and was formally dedicated in April 1982 as part of a ceremony that included Reynolds and baseball legends Mickey Mantle, Bill Dickey, and Warren Spahn. Oklahoma State will begin its final regular-season series at the ballpark against Baylor on Thursday, with Saturday evening to mark the ballpark’s last regular-season game. University officials have not revealed a plan for what will become of Allie P. Reynolds Stadium after O’Brate Stadium opens.
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