Lubrano Park
State College, PA
Review by Gary
Nestled in the shadows of the famous (and infamous) Penn State football stadium, Lubrano Park is a 5,570-seat stadium in University Park, PA and is the home field of the State College Spikes of the MLB Draft League. The Nittany Lions have also played at the ballpark since 2007.
The stadium was built in 2006 and designed to feature an unobstructed view of Penn State landmark Mount Nittany, which can be seen in the distance beyond the outfield wall. Lubrano Park is named after a successful Penn State alumnus who donated a couple of million bucks to the project, which gave him the right to name the ballpark, which he named after himself.
The footprint of the field is identical to the Pittsburgh’s PNC Field except for the right field wall. While PNC’s wall is 21 feet tall, Lubrano Park’s is 18.55 feet tall to commemorate the year that Penn State was founded. The stadium was designed after PNC because the Spikes were the farm team of the Pirates at the time the park was built.
The staff of the Spikes were nice enough to let us check out the stadium, so we enjoyed a nice wander. The ballpark has 18 luxury boxes and clubhouses for both the Spikes and Nittany Lions teams. There are many seating options around the ballpark, from reserve seating to bleachers, picnic tables to high-top bar stools at the railings. From the looks of it, Lubrano Park appears to be a nice place to catch a ballgame.
Fun Fact: The team name "Spikes" has a threefold meaning: 1. The spikes are the young antlers on an undeveloped deer, symbolic of a young ballplayer who may develop into a major leaguer. 2. The spike of railroad track in homage to the Pennsylvania Railroad and 3. The spikes ballplayers used to wear.
2016
97
2016
125
