STARKVILLE — It’s been so long since my byline last appeared in The Commercial Dispatch that I hardly know where to start this.
It was early March 2023 when I packed up my apartment at The Links and headed west — home to Sacramento, Calif. — to start my new job with MLB.com. That meant leaving my position as sports editor at The Dispatch and saying goodbye to a whole bunch of great people: fellow media members, Dispatch coworkers, athletes, coaches and more. Most of them, I figured, I’d never see again.
Boy, was I wrong.
I got the chance to spend this year’s Super Bulldog Weekend back in Starkville, taking in all three Mississippi State-LSU baseball games at Dudy Noble Field. Admittedly, it’s been three years, not 30, but in a lot of ways, it felt like no time had passed at all.
Same pregame playlist, for the most part. Same press-box crowd, plus a couple of years. And the same absolutely bonkers baseball environment.
More than 15,000 partisans packed themselves into The Dude on Saturday night, the third-largest on-campus attendance in NCAA baseball history. Want to guess which school has the record? It’s Mississippi State. How about the No. 2 spot? State, again. The Bulldogs now own at least the top TWENTY-FIVE positions in that category, which is just absurd. Trying, rather unsuccessfully, to navigate a jam-packed concourse Saturday was a reminder just how full this place can get.
And then there’s the sound. Even with their Bulldogs down 7-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning with nobody out, State fans brought the noise to a fever pitch. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a home crowd scream as loudly as the maroon and white faithful did when Jacob Parker’s grand slam to right field tied the game before the Dawgs went on to a 9-8 win.
“That was probably the best moment I’ve ever had on a baseball field,” Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese told me afterward.
It was up there for me, too. Working on a story about Reese for my current employer, I split my time between the media room and the stands all weekend. While I witnessed Parker’s slam from the press box down the third-base line, I watched the final out from an empty seat in the upper deck. Sunday was even more special: My friends and I were invited to what was essentially an in-game tailgate in the Left Field Lounge, providing not only some great food courtesy of SuperTalk Mississippi’s Brian Hadad and co. but giving me a much different vantage point. (Is it still called the Left Field Lounge if we were in right field? Please advise.)
Besides my line of sight, a few other things weren’t quite the same. I got my first opportunity to check out the Starkville Derby wiener dog race, which to my chagrin began less than two months after my departure but has kept going strong and draws huge crowds to the Cotton District each spring. Just down the street from the little dachshund racetrack, there’s also The Landing, a rooftop bar that sure would have been nice when I was around.
Oh, yeah, and there’s a new coach.
When I was promoted to the Mississippi State beat in April 2021 and promptly helped deliver the Dawgs their first national championship (that’s how I prefer to look at it, anyway), Chris Lemonis was the man in charge. But Dudy Noble still hasn’t seen another home NCAA regional since then, a fact that led to Lemonis’ firing last season. The Bulldogs seem to be in good hands with their new head coach, former Virginia skipper Brian O’Connor, who had high praise for The Dude throughout the weekend.
“It’s the best fan base and atmosphere in college baseball, hands down,” O’Connor said after Saturday’s win. “It’s not even close.”
In terms of hospitality, it sure was. As a native Californian, I’d definitely forgotten just how friendly people down here are, and everyone I ran into — old or new — either was happy to see me or sure made it look that way. I’d forgotten about the sheer number of people I’d gotten to know in my nearly four years in the Magnolia State, and I’d estimate I saw at least half of them at or around Dudy Noble over the weekend. I’d also forgotten just how unbearably hot an 85-degree day can be when the humidity is cranked up to the max, so despite my best efforts, I headed home with a nice little sunburn on the back of my neck.
But before I drove my rental car back to the Memphis airport on Monday for my flights home — it sure isn’t easy or cheap to get anywhere near here by plane — I made one last stop. Just after Maroon & Co opened its doors, I went in to grab a cowbell, a gift for my girlfriend. I know she’d love to see wiener dogs take to the track someday, and I’m sure another trip to The Dude or a football game at Davis Wade could be arranged.
That way, I can share what it’s like to be in this place, one so different from where I grew up but charming nonetheless. After spending quite a bit of time away, it was easy for me to forget what made Mississippi great. It’s driving down Highway 45 with the windows down on a warm and breezy night. It’s watching 15,000 people have what equates to a religious experience thanks to the greatest sport on the planet. It’s reuniting with friends whom you haven’t seen in years but who make it feel like no time has passed at all.
For someone who once thought I’d never come back here again, I sure can’t wait for my next trip.
Theo DeRosa, a writer and researcher for MLB.com, is the former sports editor at The Dispatch.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 24 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
