David F. Hoy Field, usually referred to simply as Hoy Field, is a baseball field at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where the Big Red baseball team plays.

David F. Hoy Field

Hoy Field
Hoy Field, with Rhodes Hall in distance
Location	Cornell Central Campus, Ithaca, New York
Coordinates	42.444685°N 76.480185°W / 42.444685; -76.480185
Owner	Cornell University
Capacity	500 (grandstand) 1,000 (total)
Field size	Left Field: 315 ft (96.01 m) Left Center Field: 378 ft (115.21 m) Center Field: 405 ft (123.44 m) Right Center Field: 375 (114.3 m) Right Field: 325 ft (99.06 m)
Surface	FieldTurf
Construction
Opened	1922
Renovated	2007
Tenants
Cornell Big Red (NCAA) (1922–present)

Description

Hoy Field is located just west of Schoellkopf Field and east of the Engineering Quad on the southern end of Cornell's campus. The dimensions of the field from home plate to the outfield fence are 315 feet in left field, 405 feet in center field and 325 feet in right field.[1] The seating capacity of Hoy Field is about 500. For many years the Bacon Cage, an indoor batting practice facility that was also used as an indoor golf driving range, was located between Schoellkopf Field and Hoy Field. However, Bacon Cage was demolished to build a parking garage and new press box on the west side of Schoellkopf Field.

Hoy Field has batting facilities that are dedicated in memory of Kerry Brooks, a 1990 graduate of Cornell and a former "Big Red" co-captain.

History

Background

Cornell's previous baseball field was Percy Field, which stood at the current location of Ithaca High School from the 1890s until 1922.[2][3] The metal bleachers from Percy Field were preserved and moved to the new baseball field.[2]

David F. Hoy

The new baseball field was built at the urging of baseball advisor David "Davy" Hoy.[2] The dedication took place on April 22, 1922 with a parade and band concert.[2] Hoy threw out the first pitch on the field; the ball he used is preserved in the Kroch Library collections.[2] Hoy, an alumnus and university registrar since 1894,[4] had served the university's baseball advisor for thirty years, and traveled south with the team for spring training each year.[5] The baseball field was named after Hoy in October 1923.[2]

Later, Hoy was injured in a 1929 bus accident in Virginia while riding with the baseball team, and he died in December 1930 at age 67.[2] Cornell's fight song, Give My Regards to Davy references "Davy" Hoy prominently.[2]

Notable events

On April 21, 1923, Columbia pitcher Lou Gehrig struck out ten Big Red players and hit a "legendary" home run, which may be the longest home run in Hoy Field history.[2] A 2015 analysis suggests that Gehrig's home run was "the equivalent of hitting a home run either to the top of Rhodes Hall, or over it into the woods behind it."[2]

In 1947 it was proposed that the School of Industrial and Labor Relations be housed in a new building that would be built partly over the field, but protests from students and alumni blocked the project.[6]

In 2006, the grass turf was removed and replaced with FieldTurf, which has many grass-like properties. In 2012, the field hosted the 2012 Ivy League Baseball Championship Series, in which Cornell defeated Dartmouth two games to one.[7]

Panorama of Hoy Field pre-2007 renovation in August 2006.

See also

• List of NCAA Division I baseball venues

References

External links

• Cornell Big Red: Hoy Field