Barnes Field

Address for Directions:
235 Hamline Ave. N
St. Paul, MN 55104
Campus Map

It is appropriate that the Golden Bears play at Robert E. Barnes Field. Few people have meant more to Concordia’s campus than this Bloomington native.

With its cozy dimensions, Barnes Field is a hitter's paradise. It is reminiscent of the field on which alumni helped build the Concordia legacy. Just as cars parked in Gangelhoff Center's parking lot are targets for right field moonshots, homers on the old field would have been launched at present-day Interstate-94.

Present day Barnes Field features a view of the Concordia Dome at Sea Foam Stadium just a block and a half away in the left center field backdrop, while Gangelhoff Center's south wall and slanted roof are home run targets. In the spring of 2010, Concordia baseball coach Mark "Lunch" McKenzie named the 24-foot left field fence "Wiesy's Wall" in honor of his longtime friend and bench coach, Jim Wiesner, for his lifetime of service to the game of baseball.

Concordia’s baseball field was named for Barnes in 1997, just five years after being part of the inaugural Concordia Athletics Hall of Fame class of 1992.

Bob Barnes served as athletics director at Concordia from 1947-82. He attended Bloomington High School and played football for the University of Minnesota in 1942. After a military stint, Barnes returned to Minnesota and got his degree in 1946. The following year, he was hired at Concordia. During his time at Concordia, he coached football, basketball, golf, tennis, track and field and even filled in as baseball coach in 1970, guiding the Comets to a 14-2 record and an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference championship.

His tenure as athletics director saw the school win a total of 56 conference championships, including 11 baseball titles. His basketball teams won eight conference titles in a 25-year period. He presided over Concordia’s transition from a junior college to a four year collegiate athletic program while serving as a head coach at the same time. During that same era, he also taught physical education.

His ground-breaking leadership and service to Concordia provided the structure and organization necessary for the University’s later transition to NCAA Division II membership in 1999-2000.

Although retired, he is a fixture at Golden Bear athletic events and can be found in the stands at the field that bears his name this spring, as well as numerous other athletic events throughout the academic year.

His continued support for Concordia athletics, combined with his years of service, leadership and success, culminated in the fall of 2010 when he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Concordia Hall of Fame event.