On a recent trip to California for ABF Freight, I mapped out several baseball experiences within a 30 mile radius of my hotel. Now, 30 miles in LA or Orange County does not always equate to 30 minutes of travel, so if you are planning trips in CA keep that in mind. One particular experience, roughly 30 miles from my hotel in Anaheim was the campus of California State at Long Beach. Just passed the campus, was a tremendous baseball experience – Blair Field. I took the drive there and was so pleasantly surprised to find a historic baseball park.

After parking next to Blair Field, home of the Cal State Long Beach Dirtbags Baseball Team, I could hear baseball sounds coming from the ballpark. Batting practice, with wooden bats, it’s a sound that is fundamentally different that batting practice with aluminum/composite bats. As I approached the front gate, I saw locks on the doors. No worries, I got a good view of the front of the facility, saw the many, many baseball alumni hanging in the rafters, and proceeded to follow the sounds of batting practice over to the third base side of the stadium.

As luck would have it, there was a gate open in and around left field and I walked right into the stadium. Blair Field, a definite throwback baseball stadium, looked absolutely incredible on Tuesday afternoon. The stands were empty, the field was empty, and the batting practice I heard was taking place in the right field hitting facility. The Troy and Danyll Tulowitzi Batting Facility, which was situated next to the Jered Weaver Bullpen, which was on the opposite side of the field from the Steve Trachsel Bullpen. I knew there were famous Dirtbag alum, but I honestly had no idea the list would go on and on.

The front gate, I forgot to mention, had a printed list of former Dirtbags who played in Major League Baseball. I stopped counting at 50, and honestly recognized nearly all of them. Jason Giambi, Tulow, Weaver, Bob Lemon, Tony Gwynn, Bobby Grich, Evan Longoria – the list of All Stars and significant MLB players was just so impressive. And I just loved this sign. It was the definition of “Dirtbag,” in case yours in different than Long Beach State’s:

Blair Field is a story by itself. Amazing stadium for baseball with bleacher seating throughout the top levels, more traditional stadium seats as you get closer to the action. It had the look and feel of a historic park, one that was in fact open for business since 1956. Without question, not a bad seat in the house and with the type of talent playing at Long Beach State, you are in for a real baseball treat there at Blair. With the Pacific Ocean mere minutes from the stadium and a beautiful recreation park adjacent, Blair Field is situated in an incredible place in Long Beach’s busy community.

After taking a few laps in the stands, taking in the stadium and reading the history of the Dirtbags, I took a stroll around the perimeter of the field, finishing up around where the batting facility was. Across the street, there were high school age baseball players practicing on an adjacent field. The sun was shining bright, temperatures in the mid 70s, everyone out wearing shorts, and smiles from ear to ear on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon in Long Beach. Wow, what an amazing Long Beach State Dirtbags experience at Blair Field.