Tuesday, March 13, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Not only did Kansas play one of the top teams in the country over the weekend, it also played in one of the best college baseball venues in America.
Arkansas’ Baum Stadium was voted the best collegiate baseball facility in the nation by Baseball America in 1998 and was the runner-up in 2003.
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It’s a privilege to be a part of this program.
-Erika Schiff
The luscious field surface, massive scoreboard in right field and numerous luxury boxes certainly add to the stadium’s reputation. However, what pushes the Razorbacks’ home digs to the top are the women who make up the Razorback Diamond Dolls and RBI Girls squads.
The Diamond Dolls squad is made up of 20 young women who serve as liaisons between the baseball program and the team. They work in the baseball office and help with baseball camps. At home games they sell media guides and programs and also serve as bat girls.
Sara Jackson, a fourth-year Diamond Doll, said making the squad comes with many responsibilities. Every year, 80 applicants go through a rigorous interview process to make sure they can handle the responsibilities — and that they know a thing or two about baseball.
“We do put a couple baseball questions in there,” Jackson said. “We want to make sure they’re serious about it and not just here to meet the players. It’s not a dating service.”
Since becoming a Diamond Doll, Jackson has developed a deep relationship with the diehard fans who pass through the gates of Baum Stadium.
Halfway through her final semester as a Diamond Doll, Jackson can’t say enough about the Razorback faithful.
“I’m from Idaho and I never experienced something like this before,” Jackson said. “Coming out here and ‘Calling the Hogs,’ it feels like you’re in a Major League stadium and that’s what’s wonderful. These people live and breathe Razorbacks and it’s very rare to see such passion for baseball.”
For Diamond Dolls like Jackson, the joy of interacting with the fans and the team are basically all they get in return, as they aren’t paid. Nevertheless, Jackson put off graduating just to be a Diamond Doll one last time.
“I was supposed to graduate a semester early, but I stretched it out an extra semester for my last baseball season,” Jackson said. “I’ve done this for three years and I wasn’t going to miss my fourth year.”
Unlike the Diamond Dolls, the RBI Girls are members of the Pom Squad. In the fall, they cheer at football and basketball games, but in the spring, the 14-member team can be seen between innings dancing on top of the dugouts.
Rachel Smithson and Erika Schiff are two members of the RBI Girls who learned what it meant to be an RBI Girl in different ways. Smithson grew up in Arkansas and always wanted to make the squad. “That’s why I came here,” Smithson said.
Schiff learned what it meant to be an RBI Girl on the run.
“I’m from Texas, so I really didn’t know what I was in for, but the first year that I did it, it was like the coolest thing,” Schiff said. “I think it’s cool, the fact that we are pretty much one of the only schools that has the RBI Girls. It’s a privilege to be a part of this program.”
Smithson and Schiff said they, too, needed to be baseball savvy to make the squad and insisted their interview process was even more strenuous than that of the Diamond Dolls because they had to display knowledge of multiple sports.
“We have interviews for our tryouts, but we’re also asked questions about baseball, football and even basketball,” Smithson said.
One thing the RBI Girls could agree with the Diamond Dolls on was their admiration for the fans at Baum Stadium.
And in addition to their interaction with the fans, Jackson said both squads get a kick out of how visiting teams react to the RBI Girls cheering on their dugouts.
“It’s interesting to see the visiting teams come in,” she said, “because they’ve never been around anything like this before and they’ve never had girls dancing on the dugout.”
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Joe Caponio
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Comments
Baseball and cheerleaders?
Nice coverage of a great baseball facility, but Arkansas is in the SEC.
For gamers, MVP 2007, the college baseball game, will feature Baum Stadium (and the RBI Girls).
To my knowledge, the RBI Girls are the nation's only spirit squad for baseball. Does anyone know of others?
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