THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110444
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 68 lines
It's 40 nippy degrees. Snow is in the forecast. Aside from sitting by your new gas logs, is there a better way to warm up than a walk around a soggy baseball field on a gray Monday afternoon?
Hundreds of ways, actually. But for Norfolk State baseball coach Marty Miller, a visit to his new stadium is a toasty alternative. It fires him up, all right, especially when you consider that the place will bear Miller's name when the Spartans open the stadium with a Feb. 22 doubleheader against Penn State.
``To know that the school feels that way about what I've done here is overwhelming,'' said Miller, who began his 25th season at Norfolk State last Friday when the Spartans lost at Duke 2-1. ``All that has happened has come as a result of not seeking it.''
Miller's field - the official name hasn't been announced - should have been completed a year ago. However, various construction delays foiled that dream and sent Miller scrambling for a place to practice and play games for a second consecutive season.
A Norfolk recreation field became the practice site, again. The Spartans, who haven't played on campus since 1994, used Harbor Park for one doubleheader. The rest of the games were on the road, yet it hardly detracted from their success - they went 23-10-1 - or from Miller's zest for a career he entered by accident.
``I don't complain a lot,'' said Miller, a youthful 50-year-old from Danville, Va. ``I just try to do the best I can with what I have. I knew this was coming. The players knew, and they didn't complain.
``That was amazing me to me, because today's athletes are so sensitive about things. But the way these guys handled it gave me more encouragement that they're going to be an outstanding team before they're finished.''
They'll have a proper showcase, then. Norfolk State is in line to enter the NCAA's Division I next fall, and its baseball field, which sits in the shadow of the under-construction football stadium, is more than worthy.
The playing surface is neat and trim, enclosed by cyclone fencing, rimmed by a gravel warning track. Underneath is a drainage system, and up top are lights that make it and Old Dominion's the state's only lighted college fields.
Enclosed bullpens abut roomy dugouts; behind the backstop are metal bleachers for 1,500 people, and then a press box dressed up with the Spartans' logo. It's all a far cry from the clearing where Miller played as a Spartan, a site inside what will be the football stadium.
``Very rough, but playable,'' Miller said with a smile. ``There were a lot of good baseball games played there, believe it or not.''
It's been a while, but Miller used to have a hard time believing he was really coaching. He took the job in '73 on an emergency basis, to help out when the previous coach quit right before the start of the season.
Funny how things go, though. Two years later, they made Miller full time. After a couple more years, Miller found he actually liked the job and the influence he had on young men. He went deep into the NAIA playoffs, made the NCAA Division II playoffs a few times, and helped develop a major leaguer in St. Louis outfielder Terry Bradshaw.
And now this, 25 years later, a fitting chapter in a story that shows no sign of ending; Marty Miller, once a coaching pinch hitter, literally with a field to call his own. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk State will name its new diamond after Marty Miller, who is
in his 25th season as the Spartans' baseball coach. ``To know that
the school feels that way about what I've done here is
overwhelming,'' he said.