The Light

Main entrance to Mark Light Field on the University of Miami campus, Feb-2020.

Backed seats up front, concrete seating in back.

An early-season game at The U.

• Location: Ponce de Leon Boulevard at San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, Fla. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1973 as Mark Light Field (renovated 2010)
• Additional names: Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field (2010)
• Home team: Miami Hurricanes, Atlantic Coast Conference
• Capacity: 5,000

During the tenure of Ron Fraser, “the wizard of college baseball,” who served as head coach from 1963 to 1992, the school got this ballpark built for its baseball program. It opened in 1973 thanks in large part to a donation from supporter George Light, who put his son Mark’s name on the field. Mark Light had recently died from muscular dystrophy. The season the park opened was the first of 44 consecutive seasons in which the Hurricanes baseball program qualified for the NCAA tournament. During that span, they reached the College World Series 25 times and captured the title four times, most recently in 2001.

Local native Alex Rodriguez, who spent nearly two decades in professional baseball, was the major contributor to a renovation that was completed in 2010, prompting the school to add his name to Light’s on the facility. Still, both the athletic department and Hurricanes fans typically refer to the ballpark as “The Light.”

The seats in the lower bowl are stadium seats with backs (and sold at premium prices), while the remainder of the seating in the main bowl is on concrete. There are also aluminum bleachers on the third-base side. Concession prices are on par with those found at minor league ballparks.

The park’s location is ideal, just off Dixie Highway (US 1 / SR 5) in the southwest corner of Coral Gables. The campus is also served by Tri-Rail commuter service, which runs on an elevated track between Ponce de Leon Boulevard and Dixie Highway. Trains rumble past the field on a regular basis.