The Gators have called McKethan Stadium home since 1988, and the site of Perry Field has been home for the UF baseball program since the late 1940s. (Photo: Allison Curry/UAA Communications)
Carter's Corner: The Legacy of Perry Field's Left-Field Hill
Wednesday, May 2, 2018 | Baseball, Scott Carter
Once upon a time, left fielders had to battle more than the sun on fly balls hit their way.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A fly ball hit to left field at Perry Field used to be a true adventure for the left fielder.
While I've heard about the pronounced slope that once existed within the playing field, I never saw it. My first game at the home of UF's baseball team – the stadium was renamed Alfred A. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field in 1988 – was in the early 1990s. Meanwhile, my search today for a photo of the hill has come up empty thus far but one will eventually surface (Below: courtesy of former UF pitcher Rod Macon).
However, media reports from those years sometimes reference the hill, confirming its existence. Of course, nothing I've found on the hill makes it as prominent as notable ballpark quirks such as Tal's Hill at the home of the Houston Astros until it was removed after the 2016 season.
The venerable Tom McEwen, the late Tampa Tribune columnist and pal of former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, covered an exhibition game between the Yankees and Gators at Perry Field in March 1981.
More than 5,000 fans turned out to set a new attendance record for the UF baseball program.
According to McEwen's column, "the setting was perfect, save for the left-field hill."
In fact, McEwen wrote extensively in his distinctive prose about how splendid the event was other than for that darned hill, which Steinbrenner made sure to point out to then-UF Athletic Director Bill Carr as a problem.
"Only hangups were (1) Reggie Jackson announced a stomach disorder and was relieved of outfielding, but did designatedly hit without good result twice against effective Gator starter Larry Mikesell; (2) and a left field that rises the 30 feet to the wall. That is, a left fielder must chug uphill over an old sewer line in pursuit of a ball. Steinbrenner winced each time outfielder Dave Winfield risked those expensive legs in his mountain climb. Carr said if the Yankees will come back, he'll get rid of the hill. Steinbrenner said get rid of the hill and he'd come back."
By the time McKethan Stadium opened in February 1988, the hill had been gone for more than two years. Oh, and the Yankees returned for another exhibition game in 1987. The most notable event during that game was a fan stole one of Yankees outfielder Ricky Henderson's cleats (memo to self: future blog).
Once the hill was bulldozed, the Gators took time to adjust.
According to a story in the St. Petersburg Times on April, 24, 1986, "ever since the 5-foot hill was removed in November to make Perry Field more attractive as a regional tournament site, the Gators have mysteriously gone downhill and a regional bid dropped out of sight."
The story, written by Tom Farrey, focused on the UF baseball team's struggles during the '86 season. Following a 43-18 season and SEC East Division title in 1985, the Gators slumped to 27-26 and missed the postseason.
Some blamed it on the hill.
"This is a rumor,'' former Gators pitcher Scott Ruskin told the newspaper. "They found out that the left-field hill was really a sacred Indian burial ground, and when they got rid of it, it put a curse on the field."
The Curse of the Hill's shelf life was nothing compared to that of the Curse of the Bambino's.
The Gators, in their first season at the renovated McKethan Stadium, advanced to the College World Series in 1988 for the first time in school history.
No one wrote about the hill much after that.
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