BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[BigPoppa]

I think NPU may sneak into the lower half of the regional rankings this week, but I am still convinced they need to make a deep CCIW tourney run to be considered for a Pool C. either WashU or Chicago (both ohead of them in the rankings) will be pulled off the table as a Pool B so that leaves them behind at least one of them at selection time Sunday night. They need to leapfrog IWU in this week's rankings to have any shot.

[D3Vike11]

I think NPU may sneak into the lower half of the regional rankings this week, but I am still convinced they need to make a deep CCIW tourney run to be considered for a Pool C. either WashU or Chicago (both ohead of them in the rankings) will be pulled off the table as a Pool B so that leaves them behind at least one of them at selection time Sunday night. They need to leapfrog IWU in this week's rankings to have any shot.

Agreed...I don't think they'll be ahead of IWU this week, but if they can make a deep tourney run (championship game), and IWU loses early, then they have a shot at a Pool C bid.

All that could be irrelevant if they win the Tourney. Should be an exciting weekend of baseball.

**Also, if North Park does lose the tournament, their only chance is if Wesleyan is the one that wins it.

[CCIWFAN6]

A little off topic and I am not sure if someone had mentioned this previously, but NPU alum Mike Giovenco was assigned to the local Kane County Cougars.  The closest affiliate to the Chicagoland Area. He has made 8 appearances.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=571709

[Gregory Sager]

A little off topic and I am not sure if someone had mentioned this previously, but NPU alum Mike Giovenco was assigned to the local Kane County Cougars.  The closest affiliate to the Chicagoland Area. He has made 8 appearances.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=571709

It's already been mentioned several times, although not recently. He's actually been with Kane County since the middle of last season.

[voiceofseason]

I've never been to a baseball game at North Park.  I've been there for soccer so have some concept of how the baseball field is laid out, but I wondered if anyone had the actual baseball dimensions or could comment more on the configuration?  Thanks.

[jester13]

Lets not go into that debate again about the dimensions at the Park.

[voiceofseason]

Lets not go into that debate again about the dimensions at the Park.

I thought it was a pretty simple question.  I've never been there before (for baseball).  If this has been rehashed - please send me a link.  I wasn't looking for a debate.

Nevermind, I found the info.

[Gregory Sager]

I'll leave the dimensions discussion aside, as jester13's right that we'd be beating a dead horse by bringing it up again. Suffice it to say that, although the right-field line is a reasonable length from home plate, most of right field -- especially right-center -- has very short dimensions. That's because the diamond itself is laid out according to the strict north-south-east-west axes of the property (i.e., the north-south axis of N. Albany Avenue), but the stands adjacent to Hedstrand Field (the soccer and football field that takes up most of Holmgren Athletic Complex and includes most of the baseball outfield) run from NNW to SSE, so they cut inward into right field.  It is a fairly high wall out there, though. And since it's padded, it deadens balls hit against it to a great degree.

Left field is fairly deep, although not overly so. Left-center and straightaway center are very deep; the left-field fence, which cuts across the softball diamond's infield (it's a portable fence, of course), extends all the way to the end of the Hedstrand Field stands. If you go to Google Maps and use the satellite function, you can get a good idea of how the baseball field at Holmgren looks with the left-field fence up, even though the fence is not up in the satellite picture.

(If you're looking at the satellite picture of Holmgren, the softball diamond is the full-cutout infield in the top left corner, at the corner of Foster and Albany, while the baseball diamond is in the lower left corner, at the corner of Winona and Albany and along the north bank of the Chicago River. The baseball diamond only has cutouts at the bases.)

The backstop is practically flush against the Albany curb and the edge of the river embankment, so there's no room there for stands, press box, etc. The press box atop the soccer/football stands is used for broadcasting and P.A. purposes, but, because that's too far away to see the home-plate umpire well, the scoreboard operator (which is me, by the way) has to stand in the first-base dugout to operate the scoreboard. The baseball diamond was redesigned this way a decade ago in order to make the right-field distance more honest. As a result of the diamond abutting the curb and the riverbank, there's only standing room behind the backstop on either side, and a small section of seats up the line from the third-base dugout (which is where visiting fans usually sit), near the infield. Most of the seating is in the Hedstrand Field stands out in right field and right-center, where you would also sit if you were watching a soccer or football game at NPU. There isn't much room in foul ground on either side of the diamond, except for down the right-field line beyond first base. At that point, which is where the football end zone starts, the field opens up and foul territory becomes massive. Lots and lots of foul balls fall harmlessly to earth down the right-field line. Of course, lots of foul balls end up in the Chicago River, too -- or thudding off of the roofs and hoods of cars belonging to those bold enough to park on Albany, or off the roofs of the buildings on the other side of Albany. NPU usually has to pay for a broken front window or shattered windshield or two every year.

Of course, there's occasionally a hard-hit ball to right that will sail over the soccer/football stands completely, as well as the trees behind, and splash down in the North Shore Channel, the canal that runs from the Chicago River at that very spot to Lake Michigan at the Ba'hai Temple in Wilmette. That's a legitimate, and very seriously-hit, home run, not one of those cheapies to right that is dubbed a "Holmgren Homer".

It's an ideosyncratic and unusually-shaped ballpark, because it's the city, where space is at a premium. NPU has to make do with what limited land it has available, which is why five sports share a piece of land and one of those sports -- baseball -- has to do so with such an odd configuration. But the turf is sound and true, the mound is good, and the park plays more honest than most people think. There's usually no more than a handful of those "Holmgren Homers" per year, although NPU and NCC hit three or four between them on Saturday.

[voiceofseason]

As noted, I have been there before, noted where baseball and softball infields were, etc.  I was there for soccer though.  I really should have qualified my question - I was most interested in what happens in left field, and you answered that with the portable fence.  I've looked at the aerial view (there's also a serviceable photo on NPU's website that shows the complex) - I just didn't know how left field was handled.

Thank you.

[Viking Blue]

I'll say this about the dimensions at North Park (and remember, I pitched there when the fence was even closer):  I actually LIKED pitching there.  Sure, the occasional cheapie doinked into those stands over the old net that used to be out there.

But the proximity of home plate to the river, and the tight backstop, always made me feel like I was right on top of the hitter.  60'6" felt more like 55 feet, for whatever reason. 

There's also this--there just haven't always been a ton of left-handed power hitters in the CCIW.  Fact is, that deep left-center and center field actually allow for mistakes that normally would be out of a lot of parks off the bats of righties to land safely in the arms of a swift centerfielder.

In the end, no one really has the right to complain about a park's dimensions.  That's one of the beauties of baseball--there are no set standards for such things.  Each team has to pitch (and hit) for 27 outs using the same field of play.

Glad to see the spotlight shining on Holmgren this weekend.

[voiceofseason]

I'll say this about the dimensions at North Park (and remember, I pitched there when the fence was even closer):  I actually LIKED pitching there.  Sure, the occasional cheapie doinked into those stands over the old net that used to be out there.

But the proximity of home plate to the river, and the tight backstop, always made me feel like I was right on top of the hitter.  60'6" felt more like 55 feet, for whatever reason. 

There's also this--there just haven't always been a ton of left-handed power hitters in the CCIW.  Fact is, that deep left-center and center field actually allow for mistakes that normally would be out of a lot of parks off the bats of righties to land safely in the arms of a swift centerfielder.

In the end, no one really has the right to complain about a park's dimensions.  That's one of the beauties of baseball--there are no set standards for such things.  Each team has to pitch (and hit) for 27 outs using the same field of play.

Glad to see the spotlight shining on Holmgren this weekend.

I know what you mean about the short backstop - I didn't see many games there, but when IWU played in their football stadium it seemed like there was barely enough room for the catcher and umpire.  It would give a confining feel to the hitter.

I'm pretty sure Horenberger is only 310' down the right field line, but the fact that they have the high fence there makes the HR's honest.  Plus, it's a pretty good place to park on the street and not get a windshield shattered....   

[Gregory Sager]

Yeah, I forgot to mention Holmgren's tight backstop. You can usually count on one hand the entire season's worth of foul pop-ups behind home plate that a catcher is able to snag. It also makes advancing on passed balls and wild pitches more of an adventure for baserunners, especially if they're coming from third to home.

I'm pretty sure Horenberger is only 310' down the right field line, but the fact that they have the high fence there makes the HR's honest.  Plus, it's a pretty good place to park on the street and not get a windshield shattered....   

A hard-hit baseball bouncing off of a car hood or roof makes a very loud and emphatic thud. It's actually kind of a cool sound, and the players in the NPU dugout (who never park on Albany, of course) tend to express their appreciation for a foul that bonks off of a car with enough force for the entire complex to hear. Since I don't own a car, I can perhaps be accused of not demonstrating enough sympathy for the unfortunate owners of said vehicles.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

north park's baseball diamond is laid out the way it was until 1978 when the first permanent bleachers were installed along the sanitary district canal.  Except now the temporary fences are in left, where there were no fences pre-1978.  Home runs to left field were almost non-existent at North Park back then.
back then north park's career homerun record was six (dan Gooris) and the season record was 2.  I never saw anyone hit one down the right field line, but there were very few lefthanders.

Dick Mahoney hit the fieldhouse twice in one doubleheader in 1967, but got only 2 triples.

The longest home run i ever saw hit at north park was by elmhurst thirdbaseman rich dzismela (sic) who cleared the canal in right center.

[Viking Blue]

The longest home run i ever saw hit at north park was by elmhurst thirdbaseman rich dzismela (sic) who cleared the canal in right center.

Keith Born hit one for us in 96 that landed in the middle of Foster Avenue and bounced onto the Marine Corps reserve center front lawn (wind was blowing out at a 45 mph clip, but still a blast).

Aside from that, I was catching one day when Todd Trunk from North Central hit one that I'm pretty sure was still going up when it hit the fieldhouse in center.

Not to be outdone, I gave one up that landed in River Park (on the other side of the drink) on about the 5th pitch of my first home start at North Park.

Again, the place has character, and lends itself to some interesting stories.

(modified by GS for formatting)

[BigPoppa]

Todd Trunk (whitest teeth in history of CCIW) hit a ton of long HRs. He carried NCC that entire season. Keith Born was a solid SS for NPU. Pretty solid guard for the hoops team as well.