Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 8, 1995                   TAG: 9508080076
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AVALANCHE'S PLAYERS, COACHES DIG THEIR NEW DIGS

Brian Culp, a Salem Avalanche outfielder, looked around the cushy clubhouse at brand-new Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium and said he really had not seen anything like it.

Not in his previous year of professional baseball, and certainly not in his days at Kansas State University.

``This is not only nicer than the clubhouse at K-State, it's nicer than my apartment there,'' he said.

The baseball people who had been so silent and stoic while enduring the unexpected delays that had kept them in cramped and mildewy quarters at Municipal Field, were universally loud in their praise of the new address.

The good mood was enhanced plenty when the Avalanche beat the Frederick Keys 3-2 in 15 innings in Monday night's opener.

``I was out of baseball for four years working as a plant manager in North Carolina,'' said Bill Champion, Salem's pitching coach. ``During that whole time, I didn't go to one game. I would have come here, though. It's that nice.''

Particularly nice for the pitchers, who benefited from the 20-foot tall walls and 367-foot power alleys; not so nice for the sluggers who would swat one over those towering fences.

``No cheapies any more,'' said the Avalanche's Forry Wells, the team leader with 16 home runs.

So maybe there should be an asterisk beside all the dingers at cozy Municipal Field?

Wells laughed nervously.

``This place is comparable to the park in Durham,'' Culp said. ``After that, there isn't even a close second in the [Carolina] League.''

The good citizens of Durham, N.C., may not want to hear that, seeing as how their joint cost close to $17 million to build. Salem was cheap by comparison, at $10.1 million.

But why stop at the borders of the Carolina League?

``This has to be one of the nicest parks in Class A ball,'' Wells said.

Vincente Garcia, the Avalanche's well-traveled second baseman, offered an even wider view.

``There is a park in Caracas [Venezuela] that is this nice, but nothing like this in a city of 10,000,'' said the native of Venezuela. ``This is a very good place to play baseball.''

Champion, too, had the advantage of spending a large portion of his professional life on the road.

``I've seen a pile of them and this is one of the better parks,'' he said. ``I'm happy for the fans. This is going to be nice for them. And I'm happy for [Avalanche owner] Kelvin Bowles and [general manager] Sam Lazzaro.

``I know some of the city people took a beating on this, but I hope that those who deserve the credit for this get it.''

For Mike Saipe, an injured Salem right-hander, moving into the new digs was sort of bittersweet because he is going home to San Diego soon. His baseball labor otherwise done, he will be rehabilitating his sore pitching elbow.

``It's the nicest clubhouse in the league,'' he said. ``They won't let you eat in here, though. They ought to put a pingpong or Foosball table in here to take up some of the room.''

By and large, a small beef, though.

``Nice place,'' said Salem manager Bill Hayes.

Nobody agreed with that sentiment any more than Salem Mayor Jim Taliaferro, who first rallied public sentiment for the new park.

``I'm glad that our kids won in their first game in here,'' Taliaferro told Hayes in a postgame visit to the manager's office. ``Now, it's their place.''