Sandwiched in between Woodrow Wilson High School and Recreation Park is the storied Blair Field, the 3,283-seat, brutal home of the Long Beach State Dirtbags.
It’s also home to the local high schools and “virtually every baseball player to lace up their cleats in Southern California during the past 50 years,” according to CSULB’s website.
The ballpark serves as hub for past, present and future students of California State University, Long Beach. This is why Blair Field was chosen as a centerpiece for the I Declare campaign.
President Jane Close Conoley spoke to a crowd about the purpose of the campaign before the Sunday’s Dirtbags game vs. UC Davis. Among the stadium improvements the I Declare campaign will offer are new batting cages, better locker rooms, offices and a hall of fame room.
Blair Field already does a great job reminding its visitors of its rich baseball history; the hall of fame room will add to this. Everywhere you look you can spot a banner, billboard or jersey bearing the name or face of a former Dirtbag.
There’s the image of Colorado Rockies shortstop, and four-time MLB all-star, Troy Tulowitzki swinging his bat in centerfield. There’s also the banner in left field with Los Angeles Angels pitcher, and three-time all-star, Jered Weaver’s face.
The walls of the left field seating entrance are decorated with magazine covers featuring former major leaguer and American League MVP Jason Giambi. Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria is right there beside Giambi, along with more of Weaver and Tulowitzki.
Over a dozen banners hang outside Blair, each one containing an image of an all-time Dirtbag great along with the years they attended. There’s Brad Davis, Danny Espinosa, Bobby Crosby and a current World Series champion, San Francisco Giants infielder Matt Duffy.
Over 1,000 people fill up Blair Field on average on game days, each one hoping that they’re looking at the next major league all-star. The air around the stadium is drenched in the smell of hot dogs, beer and the sound of children laughing.
“That’s fairly recent, I gotta say,” former LBSU Athletic Advisor Don Peters said. “I think the people they’ve got doing their marketing really know what they’re doing.”
Peters worked with the school and its athletes from 1997 to 2005. Because he holds baseball close to his heart, he’s become one of the Dirtbags’ biggest fans and attends several games year in and year out. He even sings the national anthem a few times every season.
“I have probably close to a .758 winning percentage when I sing,” Peters joked. “So the coaches, they see me coming [and they ask], ‘You singing, Don? You singing today?’”
If anyone knows the ins and outs and the atmosphere at Blair, it’s Peters. He loves the park, but admits it isn’t too friendly to the game of baseball.
“Blair Field is not an easy field to play baseball in,” Peters said. “It’s what they call a pitcher’s park. Hitters don’t come here, so they have to learn how to play small ball.”
Peters calls the enormous amount of foul territory at Blair Field the pitcher’s best friend. He points out that the center field wall, that seems to be miles away from the plate, is farther out than some of the walls at major league parks.
Blair Field can be cruel to hitters, but Peters believes it better prepares them for the major leagues. He recalls a story he heard about Duffy and Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy.
Apparently, Bochy needed Duffy to lay down a bunt in the middle of the Giants’ championship run. Bochy asked the former Dirtbag if he could come through for the team to which Duffy replied along the lines of “you know where I went to school, right?”
Peter’s story about Duffy isn’t the only evidence that Blair Field produces MLB-ready players. 44 former Dirtbags have made it to the major leagues, 12 of them are currently active; that’s good for the most active players in the majors from any college in the country.
The I Declare campaign will help improve the stadium along with the school. The Campaign for Blair Field website makes the case that a program with so much history deserves something back.