Piedmont High School -- San Jose
LOCATED:
Off Piedmont Rd near Sierra Rd in San Jose.DIMENSIONS: n/a for both (BAB has gone with and without portable fence at baseball field)
DANGER FACTOR: 4/5 for softball; Silver Monster is clearable, and cars/homes have been hit with long balls. 0/5 for baseball; there's nothing anywhere in reachable sight.
BOOT FACTOR: 1/5 for softball; witnesses say it is hardly used. 1½/5 for baseball; it's been available three out of four tries.
LAST USED: July 13, 2007
The softball field at Piedmont would be a great field if only it were rotated 180 degrees. Despite a Silver Monster in left, houses are in very close proximity to this park. The softball field isn't as tough to access as the baseball field, which is where BAB had first chosen to play before getting the boot. The dirt was more or less OK as was the grass. Centerfield is monstrous as the fence does not cut around like a normal diamond; rather, it follows the sidewalk, which is several dozen feet away. Any homers must be hit to LF or RF, and RF is even more dangerous as there is no Monster on that side--a house was struck over there, too. While the league likes the field itself, it is simply too risky to be used again except in the most desperate of times.
As for the baseball diamond...
This field requires a bit more trekking than it's neighbor, but once you arrive you're treated to a regulation-size high school diamond (approx. 320 or so to LF) that is kept in very good condition. Sometimes BAB uses its' own fence here, sometimes not. While not impossible for a BAD ASS to hit one over the real fence, as Kevin and Torance proved, it is tough. Helping out hitters are perfectly flat batters' boxes--a luxury not afforded at Goodson Field and many others. Fielders are spoiled with an exceptionally smooth infield.
The dugouts here are usually locked, but at least there is a trap (a la Miller Field) to keep balls from rolling to the backstop. Most importantly: not a reachable house or road in sight. In 2007, tall thick weeds were allowed to sprout around the regulation fences--homers and foul balls to left into these weeds permanently vanished---but they have since been erased.
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IT
HAPPENED HERE: Softball Field
Baseball Field
Stoph Andraesen became 2nd ever to clear Piedmont's fence (2008) |
BAB visited Piedmont's baseball field June 3, 2007;
Bryan Bush bats.
Another view of Piedmont as Cav Manning crosses home.
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