English Field is a baseball stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is the home field of the Virginia Tech Hokies college baseball team. It was opened in 1989 and has a capacity of 1033 in chair back seats plus additional grass-covered bank seating along the left field line known as "The Hill". English Field is currently undergoing an $18 million renovation, which should be completed by opening day, 2018.NamingThe stadium is named after Virginia Tech Outstanding Alumni Award winner E. R. "Red" English and his wife, Ruth, who were financial contributors to the university athletics program for over 50 years. The home team dugout is named for American Baseball Coach Coaches Association Hall of Famer G. F. "Red" Laird who was head coach 1940–43 and 1948–1973. During the 2016 season, the park was renamed English Field At Union Park.HistoryOpening DayOn March 22, 1989, the Hokies defeated the baseball team from George Mason University 7-2 in the first game played in the stadium.Home of Chuck Hartman's 1000th career victoryEnglish Field was home to Chuck Hartman's 1,000th career victory with a Hokie defeat of Liberty University on April 27, 1992. With this win, Hartman became the 9th baseball coach in Division I history to win 1,000 games.Host of first on-campus athletic event after shootingsOn April 20, 2007, English Field hosted the first on-campus athletic event after the campus shootings of April 16th. A record crowd of 3,132 watched the Hokies play against the Miami Hurricanes. Coinciding with a statewide day of mourning, the Virginia Tech baseball team debuted the first commemorative patch honoring student and professor victims while the Miami players and coaches wore black wristbands. Additionally, Miami head coach Jim Morris presented a $10,000 check on behalf of the university to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.
