On a recent business trip to Atlanta for ABF Freight, I set out north and west of the city to visit nearby Kennesaw State University. Having been to the Atlanta area a few times previously, I wanted to explore some different areas north of the city to find some baseball history and cool fields to experience. Kennesaw is a familiar name in baseball history, so I did some research on that to see if the name of the famous baseball commissioner and the Mountain were connected.

To clear up the historical name and place, Kennesaw Mountain is in fact connected to baseball’s first commissioner – Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Landis, born in Ohio, got his name appropriately from his father’s involvement in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia (notice the two different spellings) during the Civil War. KML’s place in baseball history is typically identified with the Chicago White (Black) Sox scandal, which he ruled over and ultimately banned members of the team for life for their alleged and ill-conceived actions during the 1919 World Series. The university sits about 10 minutes or so from the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, and that is where I landed on Thursday afternoon.

When I research an area I am unfamiliar with, I leave myself at the mercy of Google Maps to guide me. Google Maps, in this instance, brought me perfectly to Kennesaw State University and Fred Stillwell Baseball Field. Google Maps failed to mention that the field was being torn up and renovated, soon to become Mickey Dunn Stadium. Hey, let’s look on the positive, GM did its job.

Reading the construction signs and seeing the workers in heavy machinery, I decided to park anyway and walk up to see what I could see. There was a baseball coach/player/rep who greeted me outside the baseball field (formerly Fred Stillwell Field) and mentioned that practice had just finished. I was okay to go on the field and check it out. I walked inside the gate where the bullpen met left field and walked around the now shortened baseball field, due to construction. I was eager to see what the new field might look like, so I went outside the stadium and headed over to the construction site. Here are some posters they had up on the security walls protecting the sidewalks from the demolition area.

From the plans and posters, it looks like Kennesaw State will be getting a huge upgrade in facilities. The new baseball field and complex look amazing on print and I will check back in the Spring of 2025 to see how far they have progressed. It was a nice ride north with some trees started to turn their fall colors and a crispness in the air that begs for a deep inhale. Plus, I loved learning the connection between the Mountain and the Mountain of a man who was Baseball’s First and probably most famous Commissioner who share the same name – Kenesaw or Kennesaw Mountain Landis, depending how you spell it. Despite the field being under construction, it was still a fun Kennesaw State Owls baseball experience.