Buckley has Dirtbags back on track

Published June 9, 2017

The anxiety would hit in the middle of the night, shaking him awake hours before the alarm went off. Could he do this? Could he return the once-proud Long Beach State baseball program to national prominence? Could he restore the Dirtbags’ image?

Could he?

Troy Buckley struggled to sleep those first few months after taking over as head coach in 2011, wondering if he had the tools to rebuild the grit-first, glory-second Dirtbags program that seemingly had lost its mojo. He inherited a team that had finished 23-32 overall and 7-17 in the Big West Conference.

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“Last,” Buckley recalled. “We were last in the Big West that year.” He shook his head at the memory.

Those days are gone, replaced by thoughts of College World Series appearances. An idea that isn’t all that far-fetched. The Dirtbags face Cal State Fullerton this weekend in the Super Regionals with the winner earning a trip to Omaha.

Long Beach State looks for its first World Series appearance in 19 years.

“Coming back here, I thought I was coming back to where it was when I left, which was at a high level,” said Buckley.

Buckley had served as an assistant coach to Mike Weathers before taking a job with the MLB Pittsburgh Pirates. But spending 200 nights on the road, scouting for minor league talent in remote places around the country, took a toll on his family. So, when Weathers called Buckley, he didn’t hesitate.

“The main reason I came back was my family,” said Buckley, who has three children. “ ... I was not a very good father. I had to get my personal life back in order.”

With his children taken care of, Buckley said he could focus on his second family – the Dirtbags. But turning around the program required baby steps, starting with hiring assistants, a process that took a month. The staff brought in recruits, began fundraising, spruced up Blair Field and set goals, but it wasn’t always enough to stave off the insomnia.

“We had 24 new players out of 35 in my first year as head coach and some of these players we ended up getting after June 6 and school started Aug. 28,” Buckley said. “Yeah, it was frustrating because I know how far behind we were against a (team like) Fullerton.”

Getting to the level of a Cal State Fullerton was going to take work and patience, two qualities that define the no-nonsense coach. He simply rolled up his sleeves and got moving forward.  

“It was one foot in front of the other,” Buckley said. “There was a lot to do. There were facilities, there was the staff. There was fundraising. There were academics. There were the players. There was just a lot.”

The long hours in his office and on the field began to ease the anxiety. Victories erased the doubt. Within three seasons, Buckley coached the Dirtbags to the 2014 Regionals, their first postseason appearance in six years.

“I knew we were making strides,” he said. “(That year) we played at Fullerton and lost 2 out of 3 and I thought we were gaining, that we bridged the gap as far as being competitive against them. Everything is measured against that school 24 miles away.”

The Dirtbags have maintained that competitive edge since. They have not suffered a losing season during Buckley’s seven seasons and posted their best record this season, going 40-18-1 and winning their first Big West title since 2008. It's a fact that allows him to sleep peacefully.

“That’s when I thought, 'Either we are going to get over this hump or we aren’t,'” said Buckley, who was named Big West Coach of the Year. “I give a lot of credit to that ’14 team because they came in with me as head coach.

“They gutted it and grinded it and got to the other side. That’s when I felt that we could now call ourselves Dirtbags. I think the final stamp on being a Dirtbag is that you have to win.”