Arcata Ball Park is a collegiate baseball venue in the Western United States, located in
Arcata, California
Arcata (; Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok language, Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, Californ ...
. Opened in 1941, it is the home of the summer collegiate
Humboldt Crabs
The Humboldt Crabs are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Arcata, California. Playing in every season since they were founded in 1945 by Lou Bonomini, later joined by Ned Barsuglia, the Crabs are the oldest continually-operated summer co ...
. Arcata Ball Park is located at the corner of F Street and 9th Street in downtown Arcata, near the Plaza. The ballpark is tightly surrounded by a bus station on the third base side, busy F Street on the first base side, the Arcata Police Station and library behind right field, and Highway 101 just over the left field fence.
Humboldt Crabs
The summer collegiate
Humboldt Crabs
The Humboldt Crabs are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Arcata, California. Playing in every season since they were founded in 1945 by Lou Bonomini, later joined by Ned Barsuglia, the Crabs are the oldest continually-operated summer co ...
are Arcata Ball Park's primary tenant and have been for over fifty years. The Crabs, who formed in 1945, are the oldest continuously operated summer collegiate baseball team in the country, celebrating their 75th consecutive season in 2019.
The Crabs have won the California
National Baseball Congress
The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 17 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 1935 by Hap Dumont, it has conducted an annual North America ...
championship many times, advancing to the NBC World Series in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, for most of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.
Over 65 former Crabs have gone on to play in the
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. These include
Bruce Bochte
Bruce Anton Bochte ( ; born November 12, 1950) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from – and –. He played his entire career in the American League for the California An ...
,
Craig Lefferts
Craig Lindsay Lefferts (born September 29, 1957) is a German-American former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Ranger ...
,
Mike Harkey
Michael Anthony Harkey (born October 25, 1966) is an American former professional baseball player and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from 1988 to 1997 for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Oaklan ...
,
Mike Redmond
Michael Patrick Redmond (born May 5, 1971) is an American former professional baseball catcher and manager. He is currently the bench coach for the Colorado Rockies. He played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Florida Marlins, ...
, and
Dane Iorg
Dane Charles Iorg ( ; born May 11, 1950) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from (–) for four teams, including eight seasons spent with the St. Louis Cardinals. Whi ...
.
Renovations
In June 1952, the light poles were moved and raised 10 feet, a 20-foot fence was installed in left and center field, and home play was moved 8 feet closer to the grandstands and the entire diamond moved along with it, all to accommodate the new freeway,
Highway 101
Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...
. In May 1978, just weeks before the start of the Humboldt Crabs season, the City of Arcata tore out the redwood grandstand, "condemned by a dry rot problem," and replaced it with new all-aluminum bleachers, for approximately 1500 fans, on a newly poured concrete slab that included a ramp entrance to replace the old stairs. The original estimated cost of $34,600 was exceeded, and the bleaches did not arrive before the start of the season on June 10, 1978, so bleachers were borrowed from St. Bernard's School, and with the cost overruns many of the planned improvements were not made for decades.
Between August 1974 and October 1976,
CalTrans
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
expanded Highway 101 from four lanes to eight lanes, so the city had to put up a taller fence in left field to keep home runs off the highway as much as possible. A new press booth was built before the start of the 1980 season and dedicated to longtime PA announcer and ''
Times-Standard
The ''Times-Standard'' is the only major local daily newspaper covering the far North Coast of California. Headquartered in Eureka, the paper provides coverage of international, national, state and local news in addition to entertainment, sports, ...
'' sports editor Don Terbush. That wooden press booth was used until a new metal media booth was built in front of the old booth in 2019.
In 2006, after years of playing with a softball field in right field, the park was renovated and the softball infield and backstop were removed.
Between the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the City of Arcata installed new ADA regulation bleaches, able to seat approximately 909 fans, to replace the old bleachers that would sway every time you stood up and had been in use since 1978. The city is also talking about building a new press box and building NCAA regulations dugouts. The current dugouts are chain-link fence with no roof.
See also
*
Nettleton Stadium
Nettleton Stadium is a baseball stadium in Chico, California on the campus of California State University, Chico. It is the home field for the CSU Chico Baseball team, the Wildcats. It also served as the former home of the now-defunct Chico ...
*
Harry & David Field
Harry & David Field is a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Medford, Oregon.
Adjacent to U.S. Cellular Community Park (now known as Lithia & Driveway Fields), it hosts youth and high school baseball, primarily the Amer ...
*
Kiger Stadium
Kiger Stadium, formerly known as Gem Stadium, is a baseball stadium in the Altamont area of Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States.
Construction began in late 1947 at the Crest Street site of Kiger Stadium, with a goal of opening in Spring 1948 fo ...
*
Miles Field demolished in 2005
*
Tiger Field
Tiger Field is a public use airport owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Fernley, a city in Lyon County, Nevada, United States.
History
The airport ...
*
Appeal-Democrat Park
Bryant Field (formerly known as Appeal-Democrat Park, All Seasons RV Stadium, Colusa Casino Stadium and Hard Rock Park) is a stadium in Marysville, California, United States. It reverted back to its original name of Bryant Field in 2022.
*
Travis Credit Union Park
Travis Credit Union Park, also known as Nut Tree Stadium, was a stadium in Vacaville, California. It was primarily used for baseball and was the home field of the Solano Steelheads of the Western Baseball League
The Western Baseball League ...
demolished 2008
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
City of Arcata Park WebsiteArcata Ball Park official site
Baseball venues in California
Buildings and structures in Arcata, California
1941 establishments in California
Sports venues completed in 1941
High school baseball venues in the United States
Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks baseball
College baseball venues in the United States