Hermance Stadium
Brookhaven, GA
Review by Gary
Driving down Peachtree Road on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, you may pass by what appears to be a medieval fortress along the roadside. In actuality, this beautiful structure is the exterior of Hermance Stadium, the home of the Oglethorpe University baseball team, the Stormy Petrels. Built in 1920, this lovely stone and iron structure also serves as the ballpark’s grandstand.
Originally designed to be a complete bowl enclosing the combination football and baseball field, construction was halted by the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression. The generous funding by the original financier ran out and this planned 50,000 seat stadium was reduced to a capacity of just 1,000. The “Inclement Procellariiformes” of Oglethorpe fielded a decent football team from 1921 to 1941, but the outbreak of World War II ended all sports for the duration of the war.
Hall of Famer and Oglethorpe student Luke “Old Aches and Pains” Appling would cut his teeth on these hallowed grounds. Appling’s retired number 4 is displayed on the outfield fence with other notable Petrel ball players. In his last game with Oglethorpe, Appling hit three home runs. Oglethorpe baseball ceased to be played in 1977 but returned to this grand location in 1992.
While majestic in size, the stadium offers no fixed restrooms. Players use Port-O-Johns while fans can use the facilities at nearby Lupton Hall. The field level dugouts are painted to match the fence that surrounds the field. Fans can park in nearby school lots and enter at either side of the grandstand as the main gates have long been closed to pedestrian entry.
Fans who do not want to sit on the slab concrete of the 100+ year old grandstand can rest on the grassy knoll that rises above the fence from center to rightfield. A 20’ wide by 15’ tall concrete retaining wall moors the foul pole above it, while the rest of the outfield fence is made of wood.
Hermance’s playing surface is named Anderson Field, after Oglethorpe’s “Turbulent Pelagic Seabirds” first football and baseball coach. Today, the Stormy Petrels squad competes in the Southern Atlantic Association of the NCAA’s Division III. The stadium is also home to a Sunbelt Baseball League summer collegiate team, the Brookhaven Bucks, in hopes that more future Hall of Famers can say that they once played here.
Many thanks to Coach Kellen for referring me to Dan and Chris who allowed me to visit this grand ballpark known as Hermance Stadium, which today is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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