2024 college baseball/softball thread

Shouldn’t we have a 2025 thread by now?

 

It's not "UCLA's own stadium." They rent the land from the VA, a ways off-campus. This has been an issue for quite some time. The Bruins don't own it, so they haven't sunk real money into improving it. That's why one of the top programs on the West Coast (and in the nation not that long ago) plays at a glorified high school facility.

 

You're way off on UCLA not sinking money into it to improve it. They have been there almost forever. I played American Legion ball on that field in 1970 when it was awful. The resident PTSD patients used to come out and cheer and jeer us. There was a dank green wooden two-story "clubhouse" in the right field corner that was held together with spider webs and termite shit. Wooden, splintery bleachers. Look at the place now. Small capacity, but regular seating, a decent press box, batting cages behind the right field fence. The clubhouses are new and the green building is gone. It probably took 15 minutes to remove it. They have played host super regionals and they have a pretty strong alumni base.

 

Compared to the baseball facilities of its former peers - the Arizona schools, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, Oregon, even Utah - Jackie Robinson Stadium was a substandard facility, on par with Evans Diamond at Cal. Visiting radio did not even have a spot in the press box.

 

If something is good, something else has to be either better or not as good. UCLA's facility -- originally known as Sawtelle Field -- might not be as good as some others, but it is fine. Being not quite as good as ASU doesn't deserve a rip from you. Oh, no radio spot. Shut down the program.
There is no where else to build a field for UCLA. Sawtelle is only a couple of miles from campus. All-Americans and future MLB All-Stars thought it was good enough for them. But no radio booth? Oh man, what a tragedy.

 

Never said it was a tragedy. But the fact the press box didn't even have space for a visiting radio booth - pretty much a given at any press box in Division I athletics, much less a P4 program with a national championship to its credit - is notable.

Facts are facts. It was a substandard facility compared to almost all of UCLA's conference peers, and for a program of their stature. In the 26 seasons since the North-South consolidation (1999-2024) UCLA won only three outright championships and shared another. I'm sure its facilities (or lack thereof) negatively impacted its recruiting. Other programs improved their facilities (Oregon State, ASU, Arizona, Washington, Stanford) and won league titles, national titles and CWS berths, while UCLA has sort of languished since 2013.

I suspect some of those great players at UCLA - and yes, there were many - chose to play there because UCLA is a great school, despite the facility. And I'm sure had UCLA owned the land outright, they would have invested a lot more money in it and the stadium would be considerably nicer. I'm sure if you asked John Savage he'd say "fine" is OK but much rather have something nicer, like the teams he played against.

I hope they get the problem with the VA resolved so they can continue to play there. I am also interested in seeing how much of a priority baseball remains there, given that their level of competition has declined significantly with the move to the Big Ten.