On my travels back to the airport to come home from a business trip to Sacramento for ABF Freight, I decided to stop in at nearby California State University at Sacramento. The university, the football field, the campus, and baseball field will literally on the way, plus I needed gas for my rental car. So I took a direct path north from my hotel and arrived about 20 minutes later to John L Smith Field, home of the CSU Sacramento State Hornets baseball team. I parked in the adjacent parking lot and began my walk over to the field.

It was a stunning Saturday morning in Sacramento. It had rained pretty hard overnight and into the morning but it was dry when I began my walk up to the field. The air was Autumn like, the trees were turning, and an additional layer was definitely needed. There was an open gate next to the home dugout, so I walked onto the field.

As I was taking this photo, I noticed some movement in and around the home dugout so I called out “hello.” A coach or assistant named Casey greeted me and I told him I would love to take some photos of his field. He mentioned that they were just about to prep the field for a DH against local UC-Davis (University of California at Davis), and that I was free to roam around for a bit. Players were meeting just inside a conference room area on the other side of the dugout, so I went about my way and snapped a few photos of the field and stands.

John Smith Baseball Field – nice baseball stadium. Perfect size for a college baseball game. It reminded me a lot of Rhode Island’s Bryant University baseball park. I liked the banner affixed to the parking garage. Must be good target practice for a dead pull right handed slugger during batting practice and games. Up in the stands there were four numbers honored as follows:

• #12 Hoskins, as in Milwaukee Brewer Rhys Hoskins
• #22 Smith, as in John L Smith, who the field is named after
• #23 Beall, not 100% sure on this one but perhaps Vince Beall?
• #37 Boyes, Coach Cal Boyes, legendary CSU Hornets Baseball Coach

As more and more players were starting to arrive, I found Casey near the dugout and thanked him and wished him success vs Cal-Davis. The players and grounds crew had their work cut out for them but luckily a giant tarp covered the entire infield. Mother Nature would take care of the rest, with expected temperatures on Saturday approaching 70 degrees. As I made my way back to the parking garage, I snapped a few more photos of the exterior of the field.

It was a great visit to Sacramento State and John L Smith Baseball Field, home of the Hornets. Despite the rain from the previous night, the field looked great and baseball was most definitely going to be played shortly after I departed. It is always nice to connect with a member of the team whose field I am looking to photograph and document, so thank you for taking the time Casey. Campus life was coming alive as I was leaving the university grounds – I believe the Hornets had a home football game later that day. Overall, it was an awesome Hornet Baseball experience there in Sacramento State University.