Auburn Baseball at Plainsman Park Photowalk

Baseball, sorta like the air, is a constant presence in our lives, sometimes overlooked but always there, with movements and moments swirling within it. Whether it's the unpredictability of rain or a delay, or a bee delay, the essence of baseball persists all around except in the deep of winter.

In Auburn, baseball is the high caliber quality product you expect from a top-tier Division One program. Yet, what distinguishes the experience from any other program is the location, the venue, and Plainsman Park is an exceptional setting for a leisurely spring game when it's freezing in the rest of the country. Plainsman Park has gone through a lot of changes over the years, but the biggest, at least to me, are the $30 million renovations going on right now, to be finished at the start of the 2025 season. Our seats will finally have an overhang so we don't fry during a day game, but the ballpark, like everything else in life, continues its forward motion in time.

We now have a statue in front of the entrance of The Big Hurt. I love the pose. It's a huge statue and yet feels life-sized for Frank Thomas. I'm glad he was able to join Bo Jackson and Charles Barkley, who each have their own spot in front of their respective venues. Is it odd that we as people make statues of other people? I'll ponder that another day.

Recently, during the Spring A-Day game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, I made the trek to the far upper south-west grandstand, old vintage film camera in tow, to capture Plainsman Park from this unique vantage point. I can only get to this exact spot at this time of year (too crowded during an actual football game), so my opportunities to get this shot are limited to the spring football game. I love how the image turned out. It has that sorta old school feeling but is very much Auburn.

And then I was able to turn around and take a photo of Jordan-Hare Stadium from inside Plainsman Park. Somehow, Jordan-Hare Stadium presents a massive and imposing view from any vantage point you happen to be.

We've been attending Auburn baseball games for a long time now, which alone is perhaps why I think it's such a great ballpark. But its size is small enough to still evoke the feeling of a small-town home-grown ballpark. And the mid-week games, they offer a relaxed atmosphere that is almost unheard of during a sporting event.

We encounter many of the same people every year, some of whom I only see during baseball season and then not again until the following season. It's kind of odd, but I've come to know several people solely based on the sport or the time of year, only to reunite with them again when the next season rolls around.

The images below represent this year's attempt to capture the essence of Plainsman Park during a typical night game in the warm-ish spring weather. Next year, significant changes will alter the look and feel of the park, but it will still be our hometown local team.

Plainsman Park Photos

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