2/14/2023 baseball Edit

Howser upgrades improve functionality, honor FSU's tradition

Prominent players in FSU history are now honored along Howser Stadium's concourses. (Bob Ferrante)

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

When Florida State fans walk through the gates at Dick Howser Stadium on Opening Day, they will see the same cozy home but with significant upgrades everywhere they look.

The FSU athletics department and Seminole Boosters Inc. completed a variety of projects from replacing the outfield grass and installing field turf around the backstop to installing new signage around the concourse that honors ACC champions as well as columns that honor the program’s greatest players.

“We’ve given it as much of a total makeover as we can without just breaking down and building a new stadium,” FSU athletics director Michael Alford told the Osceola in January. “We’ve made a financial commitment to the program as far as facilities, a financial commitment to the staff. We want to be the best. And I will say it: That is the most storied program in college baseball when you go back and look through the history. Consistent winners. We’re just missing one thing and we want to get that accomplished.

“I know we got the right guy to do that and we want to support him at the highest levels to give him the opportunity and those student-athletes the opportunity to bring home that title to Tallahassee.”

Howser isn’t comparable to some of the newer ballparks around the country with price tags of $60 million and up. There are plenty of upgrades fans will see throughout. But there also updates that make the day-to-day routines more efficient for the Seminoles and instill pride as coach Link Jarrett takes over the program.

“The bullpen and the cages, they spend so much time in those areas,” Jarrett told the Osceola on Tuesday. “We get consumed with the field itself. But the pitchers do far more work in the bullpen and their training space than they do on the game mound. I know what matters most is the game mound, but they have to be as sharp and as trained as they can be when they get there. And that happens in the bullpen. Same thing with the cages. The lighting and the areas where they have to hit and the tees and the machines and the screens, all of the things that they need to train at a high level, I feel like we’ve been able to move that needle and give them a better training atmosphere.”

Discuss the Seminoles on our FSU baseball forum

There are some projects that aren’t as noticeable but were still necessary. Crews worked to pressure wash throughout the concourses and grandstands during practices in recent weeks. There’s a new net behind home plate and down both baselines, and Alford hopes fans will appreciate the improved sightlines.

FSU’s dugout, which is back on the first-base side, features tall netting to block line drives but also more openings to allow easier access between innings.

Take a walk along Howser’s concourses from baseline-to-baseline and it could previously be described as a long, gray trek. Now, there are reasons to stop and appreciate the program’s ACC championships and reflect on portraits of All-Americans who are honored on columns.

A walkway connecting the concourse to the grandstand behind home plate now features garnet walls with gold-lettering that spells out Seminoles.

“It’s beautiful,” Jarrett said. “I’m so excited for the fans. We’re here every day. There are people that are around the facility every day. But the reality of it is there may be people that visit with their kids, they may get one game (per season). So the concourse needs to reflect the history of the program. I think it’s second to none. But the stadium, we want it to be clean and fresh and crisp and look very presentable. We have the most knowledgeable fans in the world. That game day experience needs to be second to none. I think we’re positioned for that.”

In recent years, FSU added new LED lights as well as a video board. Fans can also expect more stats and information on the home and visiting teams.

Look for Curt Weiler's interview with Link Jarrett on Wednesday's Seminole Sidelines. Watch on our YouTube, Twitter or Facebook at 12:30 p.m.