How a ‘Dirtbag’ became a term of endearment

Most people associate the term “dirtbag” with a dirty, disgusting person. But for Long Beach State baseball, the term couldn’t be more perfect.

Up until 1989, the baseball team was referred to as the 49ers — just like every athletic team at LBSU. Then, the team unofficially became known as the “Dirtbags” when LBSU didn’t have an adequate field to practice on.

So, former assistant coach Dave Malpass started taking the infielders down the street to a dirt Pony League field.

By the time players returned back to the school campus from practice they were covered in dirt. Players started calling each other “dirtbags” and eventually the name caught on.

“We kind of changed what most people thought the term Dirtbag meant,” former head coach Dave Snow said at the team’s 20-year reunion Saturday at Blair Field. “We basically revised the encyclopedia to the Long Beach baseball way of Dirtbag thinking.”

Snow, who took began his tenure in 1989, led the team to a 50-15 record and to the school’s first ever College World Series. All this just one year after the squad posted 14-45 record.

“A name’s a name but you still have to go out, win games and perform,” Snow said about the name change. “If [we had] a losing team, nobody cares.”

Players on the team really embraced the new moniker and how it complimented the way many of them approached the game.

“I loved it because it was dirty, it was messy,” former 1989 Dirtbag starting pitcher Ed Lopez said. “It was a term that could only fit grinders, and those were the boys that were out there. We all kind of came from nowhere, and to have us all come together like that, it just seemed to fit.”

Former major leaguer and member of the ’89 team, Darrell Sherman, was all for the name, too.

“The name Dirtbag came about with attitude. We had the drive, discipline and determination,” said Sherman, who transferred from Cerritos Community College and received a full scholarship. “We would rather not wash the uniforms than wash them. We like to show it on the field, how we could get down and dirty.”

There’s no arguing with that claim. That season Sherman hit .365, good for second on the team. He also walked 55 times, stole 39 bases and scored 73 runs — all of which rank among LBSU’s all-time single-season leaders.

Overall, the team logged 106 steals on 138 attempts. In the next six years, the Dirtbags continued their “dirty” style of play, attempting at least 135 steals.

“The name might have helped get the point across,” Snow said about his team’s play style. “And it had an effect on the new players coming into the program [in the years after].”

LBSU may be fortunate to have had Snow even take the job. Through 1988, The Beach provided only five full scholarships to players.

Snow, however, threatened to not take the job if the number of scholarships didn’t increase to the maximum of 11.7. He credits the 1989 team’s success to that.

Now, the success of LBSU baseball could be the product of the name and the way it has shaped the mentality of players. Or it could be because of the number of scholarships for players increased.

Whatever the reason, since 1989 the Dirtbags have been nothing short of successful.