Cliff_Hagan_Stadium
Cliff Hagan Stadium
Baseball park at the University of Kentucky
Cliff Hagan Stadium (Officially named Shively Field at Cliff Hagan Stadium) was a baseball stadium located in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Cliff Hagan Stadium or better known to Kentucky Wildcat baseball fans as "The Cliff" is on the southwest side of the university's campus, two blocks away from Kroger Field. Since its opening in 1969, the University of Kentucky Baseball called this place home for just under 50 years. The Wildcats then opened a $49 million baseball stadium called Kentucky Proud Park in 2019. Cliff Hagan Stadium had 7 coaches during its time and 15 All Americans. The stadium was renamed in 1993 in honor of Cliff Hagan, the Basketball Hall of Famer who had played at Kentucky during the 1950s under Adolph Rupp and returned to Kentucky as athletic director after his professional basketball playing days. It was extensively renovated in 2002. Following its final 2018 season, while construction was ongoing on its nearby replacement, it was used for UK baseball summer camps.[2] In 2021, “The Cliff” has been an abandoned stadium for over 2 years and is not in use.
In the wake of the Wildcats' surprising success in the 2006 season, which saw them win a regular-season Southeastern Conference title for the first time in over 30 years, coach John Cohen was signed to a five-year contract extension. A clause in the contract commits the university to either renovating or replacing the stadium. If construction on a new or renovated stadium does not start in 2008 or sooner, Cohen was free to walk away from the contract without a financial penalty.[citation needed] However, Cohen left the program at the end of the 2008 season for his alma mater Mississippi State, where he served as athletic director from 2016 to 2022. His assistant Gary Henderson was then given the head coaching job.[3]