SEC Baseball Tournament fits Hoover Met like a well-worn glove

Published On: 05.25.16 |

By: Bernard Troncale

SEC Baseball Tournament fits Hoover Met like a well-worn glove

Fans pack the stands for Tuesday's first day of the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. (Bernard Troncale/Alabama NewsCenter)

After 19 straight years, the Hoover Met is the recognized home of the annual Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament.

That might not be the case for the next 19 years.

As fans come out again this week for the series that began Tuesday and runs through Sunday, the SEC has taken proposals from other cities seeking to host the tournament. Hoover is among those bidding, reportedly alongside cities including Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans and Jacksonville, Fla.

SEC Baseball Tournament 2016 under way at Hoover Met from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Gene Hallman, president and CEO of the Bruno Event Team, says the Birmingham area has been good for the tournament, just as the tournament has been good for metro Birmingham and for Hoover.

The annual event in Hoover has built a fan base and no longer depends on Alabama or Auburn being in a game to draw large crowds, Hallman says. “It’s become a celebration of baseball and is basically irrespective of who’s playing.”

Of course, it didn’t hurt that hometown favorite Alabama defeated Kentucky 5-2 in Tuesday’s first round to advance in the tournament. Meanwhile, Ole Miss took down Georgia 5-1, LSU edged Tennessee 5-4 and Vanderbilt shut out Missouri 7-0.