Long Beach State 49ers Baseball
The Long Beach State Dirtbags baseball team is the college baseball program that represents California State University, Long Beach. Although, like all other Long Beach State sports teams, the baseball team is officially known as the 49ers, players and fans alike generally prefer the "Dirtbags."
Long Beach State has competed in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference (BWC, formerly the PCAA) since 1970. Before becoming a founding member of the BWC, LBSU participated in the Division II California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) from 1957–1969, 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. Since then The Dirtbags have been, historically, one of the strongest teams on the West Coast, being consistently ranked in the national top 25 and appearing in 17 of 20 NCAA tournaments through 2008.
The Dirtbags currently play their home games at Blair Field, a semi-professional baseball facility located less than 2 miles from campus and operated by the city of Long Beach.
Read more about Long Beach State 49ers Baseball: The Dirtbag Spirit, Year By Year: Coaches and Records, Notable Former Players
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“The State is to make what is useful. The individual is to make what is beautiful.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“One of the baseball-team owners approached me and said: “If you become baseball commissioner, you’re going to have to deal with 28 big egos,” and I said, “For me, that’s a 72% reduction.””
—George Mitchell (b. 1933)