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Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball
The Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball team is the college baseball program that represents California State University, Long Beach. Although all Long Beach State sports teams are officially known as the Beach, the baseball team is typically referred to as the "Dirtbags". Their colors are black and gold.
Long Beach State (LBSU) has competed since 1969 in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference (BWC), known at the time as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. Before becoming a founding member of the PCAA, LBSU participated in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) from 1957 to 1969, and before that spent three years as an independent team.
The Long Beach State baseball team gained national prominence in 1989, with the hiring of Dave Snow as head coach. The Dirtbags established themselves as one of the strongest teams on the West Coast. From 2010 to present day, more active Major League professional ballplayers are alumni of Long Beach State than any other school.
Since 1993 the Dirtbags have played their home games exclusively at Blair Field, a semi-professional baseball facility located less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from campus and owned by the city of Long Beach.
In 1954, then 5-year old Long Beach State College asked newly hired P.E. professor John McConnell (a former cross country runner also serving as the school's associate basketball coach) to be the first head coach of the new baseball team. Helming a program with only 14 players on the roster, no athletic scholarships, and a shoestring budget, the team was forced to hold practices on the public field at Whaley Park adjacent to campus. All of the team's first 11 games were played on the road; only towards the very end of the season, when the school's field was finally completed, could the 49ers host their first home game. The young 49ers posted a modest 3–13 record for the 1954 season.
From 1955 to 1956, still hampered by a limited roster and forced to employ a 3-man pitching rotation, the 49ers posted significantly improved records of 17–4 and 18–6, respectively. They were paced by utility man Carl Evans, who would later become Long Beach State's first All-Conference player (after the school's admission to the CCAA).
In 1957 Long Beach State was admitted into the NCAA's College Division (now Division II) after three years of competition as an independent. McConnell remained as head of the baseball program for three more years, accumulating a 48–42 cumulative record in NCAA play and finishing between 3rd and 5th in the conference each year. After the 1959 season McConnell stepped down as coach of the Long Beach State baseball team, however he stayed on as a staff member in the P.E. department for nearly 30 more years. When asked later which accomplishment he was most proud of during his time with the baseball program, he responded it was that 50 of the 57 baseball players he coached graduated.
Dick Clegg took over the program after McConnell's departure, and almost immediately he appeared capable of taking the 49ers to heights that his predecessor had been unable to. Led by the team's first future Major Leaguer in pitcher Dick Nen, the 1960 team finished the season with a promising 20–14 overall record and a 9–6 mark in CCAA play for a third-place finish in the conference, and there seemed to be reason to hope that the future held even brighter things for the 49ers baseball program. But unfortunately Clegg was unable to reproduce the success of his first season with the club, and under his guidance the 49ers failed to garner another winning season. Clegg's teams accumulated a disappointing 32–65–1 record over the next three years, including an abysmal 6–25–1 record in 1963. This lack of production led to Clegg's resignation following the 1963 season.
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Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball
The Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball team is the college baseball program that represents California State University, Long Beach. Although all Long Beach State sports teams are officially known as the Beach, the baseball team is typically referred to as the "Dirtbags". Their colors are black and gold.
Long Beach State (LBSU) has competed since 1969 in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference (BWC), known at the time as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. Before becoming a founding member of the PCAA, LBSU participated in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) from 1957 to 1969, and before that spent three years as an independent team.
The Long Beach State baseball team gained national prominence in 1989, with the hiring of Dave Snow as head coach. The Dirtbags established themselves as one of the strongest teams on the West Coast. From 2010 to present day, more active Major League professional ballplayers are alumni of Long Beach State than any other school.
Since 1993 the Dirtbags have played their home games exclusively at Blair Field, a semi-professional baseball facility located less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from campus and owned by the city of Long Beach.
In 1954, then 5-year old Long Beach State College asked newly hired P.E. professor John McConnell (a former cross country runner also serving as the school's associate basketball coach) to be the first head coach of the new baseball team. Helming a program with only 14 players on the roster, no athletic scholarships, and a shoestring budget, the team was forced to hold practices on the public field at Whaley Park adjacent to campus. All of the team's first 11 games were played on the road; only towards the very end of the season, when the school's field was finally completed, could the 49ers host their first home game. The young 49ers posted a modest 3–13 record for the 1954 season.
From 1955 to 1956, still hampered by a limited roster and forced to employ a 3-man pitching rotation, the 49ers posted significantly improved records of 17–4 and 18–6, respectively. They were paced by utility man Carl Evans, who would later become Long Beach State's first All-Conference player (after the school's admission to the CCAA).
In 1957 Long Beach State was admitted into the NCAA's College Division (now Division II) after three years of competition as an independent. McConnell remained as head of the baseball program for three more years, accumulating a 48–42 cumulative record in NCAA play and finishing between 3rd and 5th in the conference each year. After the 1959 season McConnell stepped down as coach of the Long Beach State baseball team, however he stayed on as a staff member in the P.E. department for nearly 30 more years. When asked later which accomplishment he was most proud of during his time with the baseball program, he responded it was that 50 of the 57 baseball players he coached graduated.
Dick Clegg took over the program after McConnell's departure, and almost immediately he appeared capable of taking the 49ers to heights that his predecessor had been unable to. Led by the team's first future Major Leaguer in pitcher Dick Nen, the 1960 team finished the season with a promising 20–14 overall record and a 9–6 mark in CCAA play for a third-place finish in the conference, and there seemed to be reason to hope that the future held even brighter things for the 49ers baseball program. But unfortunately Clegg was unable to reproduce the success of his first season with the club, and under his guidance the 49ers failed to garner another winning season. Clegg's teams accumulated a disappointing 32–65–1 record over the next three years, including an abysmal 6–25–1 record in 1963. This lack of production led to Clegg's resignation following the 1963 season.
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