Abe Martin Field is a baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 venue in Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, in the state of Illinois, within the Southern Illinois region. It is located at the junction of Illinois Route 13 and U.S. Route 51, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri, on the northern edge of the Shawnee National Forest...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is home to the Southern Illinois

Southern Illinois University

Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...

 Salukis

Southern Illinois Salukis

The Southern Illinois Salukis are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Illinois University. The nickname comes from the saluki, the royal dog of Egypt and the Persian greyhound, which ties into the fact that southern Illinois has had the nickname "Little Egypt" for just under 200...

 college baseball

College baseball

College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...

 team of the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

's Division I Missouri Valley Conference

Missouri Valley Conference

The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...

. The field, opened in 1964, holds 2,000 spectators. It is named for former Southern Illinois baseball coach Abe Martin

Glenn Martin (coach)

Glenn "Abe" Martin was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He was the fifth head football coach for the Southern Illinois Salukis in Carbondale, Illinois and he held that position for ten seasons, from 1939 until 1949. His overall coaching record at SIU was 31 wins, 42 losses,...

. In recent years, both alumni and fans have complained about the venue's outdated features, but renovation plans were announced in May 2011.

History

After the field's 1964 construction, it remained undedicated until 1972. On April 30, 1972, the field was formally dedicated to Abe Martin. Martin coached Saluki baseball for 19 seasons (1946-1964) during a 33 year tenure at the university. A scoreboard was also added around the time of the dedication.

In the decades after the facility's opening, several minor improvements were made. In 1966, new bleachers, believed to have been taken from Sportsman's Park

Sportsman's Park

Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, all but one of which were located on the same piece of land, the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street on the north side of the city.- History :From...

 in St. Louis, were added. Sportsman's, the former home of Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

's both St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 and Browns, had closed earlier that year. In 1988, a clubhouse was built. 2000 renovations saw bermuda grass installed in the outfield

Outfield

The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield...

 and batting cage

Batting cage

A batting cage is an enclosed cage for baseball players to practice the skill of batting.It is usually made of netting or a chain-link fence and rectangular in shape. A batter stands at one end of the cage, with a pitching machine at the opposing end...

s beyond the right field fence. In 2006, an electronic scoreboard

Scoreboard

A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game or match. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used a mechanical clock and numeral cards to...

 was constructed past the right center field fence.

2011 renovations

As Martin Field entered its fifth decade of use, calls for improving the aging facility increased. The facility, called "Ancient Abe" by writer Todd Hefferman, is the oldest in use by a Missouri Valley Conference team. In 2011, plans were made to update the field.

The university announced in May 2011 a fundraising campaign to renovate Abe Martin Field. Planned additions include stadium lighting, a press box

Press box

The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box. In general, newspaper writers sit in this box and write about the on-field event as it unfolds...

, fencing, and new dugouts

Dugout (baseball)

In baseball, the dugout is a team's bench area and is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or third base. There are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team. In general, the dugout is occupied by all players not prescribed to be on the field at that...

. A new seating structure will be built, and Martin's combination rye and Bermuda grass surface will be replaced by FieldTurf

FieldTurf

FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...

. Saluki head baseball coach Ken Henderson supported the effort, saying, "To take the next step, to take that next big step, we've gotta have that facility." Computer images of the future facility were made available.