Former Miami Hurricanes athlete donates a cool million bucks to improve facilities
The University of Miami baseball program, which began spring practice Friday to prepare for a season that is expected to be its best in years, received more good news Thursday when a former player made an extremely generous donation.
Canes baseball alumnus Tommy Adams donated $1 million toward the Hurricanes’ Baseball Facility Enhancement Campaign — the largest gift toward baseball by a former UM player.
UM announced that “in recognition of his generous gift, the home plate entrance to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field will be renamed the Tommy Adams Main Entrance.’’
Adams’ gift, UM said in a release, will be used toward the $7 million campaign that is supporting funding for a new scoreboard, locker room renovations, a players lounge and nutrition center. The enhancements are part of the second phase of the project.
The campaign will initially fund the “Jimmy and Kim Klotz Player Development Center — a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility that broke ground this fall and will house batting cages, bullpens and a multi-purpose area,’’ UM announced in a written release.
“I have been donating to the University of Miami for many years, giving to baseball, football, basketball, the College of Engineering, Frost School of Music and Miami Herbert Business School,” Adams told UM. “Former head coach Eddie Dunn and the University of Miami helped me become what I am today. I truly appreciate all they have done for me and I hope I can inspire other athletes and students to someday give back to their alma mater.”
Adams came to Miami in 1953. He played left field as a freshman and later moved to center. He earned his degree in 1957, and played with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees organization for six years before being drafted during the Vietnam War.
He is the founder of Tiodize, Inc., an advanced technology company that provides products and services to aerospace, NASA, medical and other industries, per UM.
“Tommy Adams has been a longtime supporter of our baseball program and Miami athletics,” coach Gino DiMare said. “Tommy is proud to be a Hurricane and wanted to be a leader in this fundraising effort to help us have facilities that are among the best in the country. We are grateful for his generous gift.”
DiMare contributed $500,000 to the campaign when it began in October. Former Hurricane star Ryan Braun also made a major gift commitment towards the campaign in December.
UM, which finished 41-20 (18-12 Atlantic Coast Conference) in 2019, opens the 2020 season Feb. 14 with the first game of a three-game series against Rutgers. For the first time since 2007, Miami has been ranked among the preseason top-5 by multiple polls, earning as high as a No. 3 ranking by D1 Baseball.
“It’s an unusual team because most of the majority of our team are back from last year,’’ DiMare said Friday. “Especially our hitters — I think we lost one starter in Mike Amditis. At this point in their careers they all should be developing. ...Certainly that’s a nice thing to have. It’s a good balance of freshman, sophomores and juniors.”
Added DiMare: “You can see the excitement getting back. Now the expectations are where they should be at Miami, where everybody expects us to get to Omaha and have a chance to win.’’
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 3:49 PM.
