TRACY HIGH BASEBALL HISTORICAL RECORDS

Recently my son (a 2010 THS graduate and baseball player) came with me to a practice at Monte Vista and we began discussing the differences between playing baseball off campus vs on campus.  From 1998 - 2012 the Bulldog baseball diamond was located in the back of campus near where the football players now enter the stadium on Friday nights.   13+ years ago as plans were drawn to build the new Wayne Schneider Stadium, it became obvious that the existing baseball diamond was not going to fit  and was being squeezed out by the larger track and bleachers of the new stadium.   Coach Vic working with the Athletic Director and District representatives came up with a plan to move baseball to the Monte Vista fields.

The final game on campus was played May 9, 2012.  The district put a lot of work into improving the fields at Monte Vista and Bulldog baseball commenced off campus in February 2013.

My son and I noted the pros and cons of the two locations.  On campus the players benefited from a lot of students stopping by to watch the games which motivated the players.  With Track & Field just a few feet away behind the home dugout, many athletes would stop by to watch the baseball games.  

Good viewing space was a bit tight on campus for spectators and it was a long walk to get to the fields from the parking lots.  

On campus the right field fence was a temporary fence and relatively shallow.  If you were a left handed power hitter, you had good chance of hitting a bomb.  The winds typically blew from left to right also helping a ball lifted to right center.  Speaking of the wind, it was not uncommon to be sand blasted at the old field on windy spring days as the loose dirt off the old track would spread across the diamond hitting the 3rd base side the worst.

Monte Vista provides the Bulldog baseball program a lot more space and the opportunity for the three squads to be in action there at once.  This was a severe limitation on campus with just one diamond causing JV to practice/play off campus frequently and the Frosh were often relegated to the small batting cage or THS practice field to get their work in.

Pictured above was Antonio the THS Groundskeeper celebrating his hard work on the field for the final game.

Pictured below is an approximate overlay I created of where the baseball diamond was located in association with the new Wayne Schneider Stadium.  I think you can see why baseball had to be moved.  I've also left the outline of the old dirt track.  I also have some additional photos below showing the area around the diamond. 

Coach Alkire shared that prior to baseball being played on campus (pre 1998) the Varsity Bulldogs played back at Monte Vista at what was then terrible field conditions.  There were no outfield fences and the dugouts could only hold 9 players .  There was also no scoreboard.