City gets Double-A club

Baseball fans in Long Beach will soon have another baseball team to support besides the Cal State Long Beach 49ers as a double- A minor league team, which is part of the newly formed Western Baseball League, will be calling CSULB it's new home.

Renovations to the 49er Field will include the installment of l ights and the construction of permanent bleachers that will accommodate up to 3,000 spectators.

"This is a great thing for our campus because we will be able to make major facillity improvements that we couldn't afford otherwise," said Dave O'Brien , CSULB athletics director.

Costs of planned renovations will run close to $1 million, with team owners picking up the tab in exchange for access to the field for at least the next four years.

"I think this is a great chance for the university to interact with the community," said Paula Pyers, vice-president of the new franchise. "People don't buy tickets to just see a game ... They want to experience the whole atmosphere of being at the ball park and I believe that CSU Long Beach can pro fit from this tremendously."

Problems resulting from the team playing on campus are considered minor at the most, O'Brien said, because most games will be played on weekends or at night. The season will start May 15th and last until September 5th with 94 games on the schedule.

In addition to Long Beach, other proposed sites for the WBL Southern Division include Palm Springs, Salinas and Rohnert Park. A northern division would be represented by teams in Aberdeen, Wash., Tri-Cities, Wash., Winn natchee, Wash. and Surrey, British Columbia.

"The benefits for the community and the school could be quite dramatic, not only from an economic standpoint with the possibility of jobs for students and locals, but also on a promotional level," said K en Weiss, Long Beach Sports Council cofounder.