A home team dugout, training room, and storage area were added to the facility. Perry Field was further improved in 1981 with a $10,000 donation by former catcher Tom Shannon. The most memorable of these was the Macontest, where an overflowing crowd of 3,820 saw the Gators mount a valiant effort in a 10-9 defeat. Perry Field went on to host three exhibitions (in 1977, 1981, and 1987) where the Gators faced the Yankees. Wanting to improve college baseball facilities in the state of Florida, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner provided funds for the university to install lights at Perry Field in 1977. Eventually, an expansion to the football stadium forced the team to move 500 yards southwest to Perry Field. The varsity team was founded in 1912 and continued to play at Fleming Field through 1948. In 1911, the team moved on campus to Fleming Field, where the northern endzone of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium stands today. In the earliest years of baseball at the University of Florida, club teams played at a field in downtown Gainesville's Porters Community. Perry's family formerly owned the land on which the baseball stadium was built, and donated the land to the university. "Tootie" Perry, a former Florida Gators football player who was the Gators' first All-Southern selection in 19 and team captain in 1921. McKethan donated the equivalent of $800,000 for the reconstruction and improvement of the stadium in the 1980s and 1990s. McKethan, a University of Florida alumnus and successful Florida banker, businessman, and politician who contributed significant funds for the reconstruction and expansion of the stadium. ![]() The stadium facility was named for Alfred A. O'Connell Center, and its football stadium, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. McKethan Stadium was located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, in close proximity to the university's indoor sports arena, the Stephen C. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field was the college baseball stadium of the University of Florida, serving as the home field for the Florida Gators baseball team until being replaced by Florida Ballpark in 2020. Location in the United States Show map of the United StatesĪlfred A.
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