Duffy Bass 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 Normal

Normal, Illinois

Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 52,497 as of the 2010 census. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

, 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 Illinois State

Illinois State University

Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...

 Redbirds

Illinois State Redbirds

The Illinois State Redbirds are the athletic teams that represent Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Teams play at the NCAA Division I level . The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference while most other teams compete in the Missouri Valley Conference...

 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 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...

. It was built in 1988 and has a capacity of 1,200 spectators, 1,000 of which is seated.

History

In both 1992 and 2003, the field was awarded the Professional Grounds Management Society's Honor Award for the excellent condition of its playing surface.

Prior to 2008, the facility featured little seating and other amenities to surround the field itself. In 2006, however, a $3.4 million renovation project was announced, and construction began on July 15, 2008. Part of then-athletic director Sheahon Zenger's initiative to improve Redbird athletic facilities, the project added 1,000 stadium seats, restrooms, concession stands, and ticket windows. It also upgraded the venue's 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...

 and 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...

. An electronic scoreboard was added later. Browning Day Mullins Dierdorff Architects designed the stadium structure, while McCoy Construction built the new facilities.

Naming

The field is named for former Illinois State baseball coach Duffy Bass. During Bass's 1964-1988 tenure, the Redbirds went 713-457-18. This mark included a 1969 national championship in the College Division (the NCAA's now-defunct small school division).

Duffy Bass Field has been home to the Horenberger/Bass Baseball Classic, an annual game which commemorates Bass and Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...

's (in nearby Bloomington

Bloomington, Illinois

Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

) former baseball coach Jack Horenberger. First played in 2004, the game alternates between Duffy Bass and Illinois Wesleyan's Jack Horenberger Field. Illinois State has won four of six classics played. 2009's game was rained out, and 2011's was scheduled but not played.