Monday Profile: Longtime MSU fan the first to bring truck for seating to Left Field Lounge Russ Rogers, pictured with his wife of nearly 50 years, Barbara, has been attending Mississippi State baseball games since he moved to Starkville in 1967. Rogers said he brought the first permanent truck used for seating to the Left Field Lounge at Dudy Noble Field in 1980. Photo courtesy of Russ Rogers
The first permanent truck to be used for seating at Mississippi State’s Left Field Lounge at Dudy Noble Field arrived by pure happenstance, the way Starkville resident Russ Rogers tells the story.
Rogers, a 1976 Mississippi State graduate, moved to Starkville in 1980 after he finished law school and opened a law firm in town with William Ward. The firm represented a local bank, which Rogers met with every Friday morning. He recalls sitting in the conference room, glancing out the window at the back of the parking lot and noticing a red, beat up truck.
MSU fans flock to Starkville for first Super Bulldog Weekend since before pandemic Mike Juckes, of Houston, cuts some sausage in the Left Field Lounge during the Mississippi State and Ole Miss baseball game. The game is one of several events to make up the first Super Bulldog Weekend since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Micah Green/Special to The Dispatch
Mississippi State fans overlook the end of an inning during the Bulldogs’ 9-0 loss to Ole Miss Saturday. Ole Miss and Mississippi State have each won one contest in the three-game series. Micah Green/Special to The Dispatch