Professional baseball was poised to return to Long Beach on Tuesday night for the first time in years before a sold-out crowd of 3,000 packing Blair Field for the inaugural home game of the Long Beach Coast, a milestone moment for a city that has long embraced the sport but struggled to sustain a minor league franchise.
As a team in the Pioneer League, a Major League Baseball Partner League, the Long Beach Coast will become part of the civic fabric of Long Beach itself. Backed by millions of dollars in private investment, community partnerships, scholarship programs and a commitment to restoring one of the city’s most beloved public venues, the franchise arrives with ambitions that extend far beyond the foul lines. Team leaders hope to create not just a winning baseball club but a lasting community asset capable of generating civic pride, economic activity and a new gathering place for families.
Brisk ticket sales provided a reminder that while minor league baseball has arrived throughout Long Beach’s history, the city’s passion for the game has never disappeared.
For nearly seven decades, Blair Field has stood at the center of that story. Since opening in 1956, the ballpark has hosted generations of players, families and fans while serving as one of Long Beach’s sports landmarks with baseball woven into the identity of the city, including Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who grew up playing in the city.
For a city that has experienced a revolving door of professional teams, the arrival of the Coast represents more than the launch of a new franchise: It connects Long Beach’s deep baseball roots with a lasting professional presence.
Few communities in Southern California can claim a baseball heritage as deep as Long Beach’s. Home to the nationally respected Long Beach State Dirtbags program and generations of players who have advanced to the highest levels of the sport, the city has long embraced baseball even when professional teams failed to gain a lasting foothold.
“We’re a baseball city, and home to Long Beach State and the Dirtbags, an incredible legacy and Hall of Famers who have come from our city,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said.
For Coast manager Troy Percival, the appeal of Long Beach had little to do with standings or statistics. The former Anaheim Angels World Series champion said the opportunity to be part of the city’s baseball tradition was impossible to ignore.
“I’ve been a baseball guy my whole life, and there’s nothing that intrigued me more than coming to Long Beach,” Percival said. “Just the history of it, the type of people that are going to be here.”
Percival played 14 years in the majors, including his matinee-idol stint as a reliever and closer for the Angels during their 2002 world championship season. Percival later coached at UC Riverside and managed the Pioneer League’s Idaho Falls Chukars.
Percival believes the team’s identity should reflect the city itself.
“They are hard-nosed, blue-collar grinders,” he said. “You will not see guys jogging the bases, playing all day and diving for balls.”
While independent baseball is often overlooked, Percival said fans may be surprised by the quality of play, which he described as somewhere between Single A and Double A baseball. It was important to him to create an environment where players learn how to compete.
“The kids are getting very good instruction,” Percival said. “We are teaching them how to win. That’s something I think has been neglected in baseball for quite a few years.”
For a city with such a deep baseball heritage, he hopes fans embrace both the team’s competitive spirit and its connection to the community.
“I hope everybody comes out and really enjoys the product we’re putting out there,” Percival said. “I’ll give you everything I’ve got.”
For the Coast’s ownership group, Blair Field represented more than a venue. It represented an opportunity to invest in a place that already mattered to the community. Paul Freedman, co-founder of Innovation Baseball Partners, said the organization’s vision extends beyond what happens between the foul lines.
“Our mission is to build teams that play great baseball but become meaningful parts of the communities they call home,” Freedman said.
The Coast, he added, are intended to become part of Long Beach’s civic fabric.
“Long Beach is vibrant, passionate, diverse and a baseball town,” Freedman said. “This isn’t just about creating a baseball team. It’s about creating community assets, civic pride and a gathering place for families and for the community.”
That philosophy is reflected in the organization’s commitment to invest $2 million in upgrades at Blair Field, a publicly owned facility that has served generations of Long Beach residents.
“We are humbled and excited to be the people who bring baseball back to Long Beach,” Freedman said. “Welcome to the Coast era.”
The timing is notable as the Coast arrives as Long Beach prepares to play a major role in the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and as Southern California enters an unprecedented stretch that includes the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl.
Richardson sees professional baseball as part of a larger sports identity that already runs deep throughout the city.
“We’re a sports town,” he said. “We have more Olympians per capita than any city in America. We are preparing for 2028.”
The mayor also views the franchise as an example of how public and private sectors can work together to strengthen community assets.
“What’s special about this is the public-private partnership and investment in our public parks and our public assets,” said Richardson.
For city leaders, the Coast represent more than a baseball team. They represent an effort to build civic pride, generate economic activity and create another gathering place for residents.
The commitment extends beyond the ballpark. Through a partnership between the Long Beach Coast and local attorney and Nguyen Lawyers’ Founding Partner Minh Nguyen, the team has launched a scholarship initiative benefiting Long Beach Unified School District students. For every runner caught stealing by a Long Beach catcher this season, Nguyen’s firm will contribute $1,000 toward a college scholarship fund, with a goal of raising between $25,000 and $30,000 for local students pursuing higher education.
Nguyen, a lifelong Long Beach resident who played high school baseball at Blair Field, said the initiative reflects the team’s commitment to investing in the community beyond the game itself.
“When the opportunity came about to invest in two things I love, the city of Long Beach and baseball, I was all in,” Nguyen said. “This is a way to give back and help the next generation of leaders.”
Richardson hopes the impact eventually stretches beyond Blair Field.
“I would love to see more investments, more economic opportunities here,” he said. “I’d like to see a culture of sports that permeates well beyond Blair Field.”
A Long Beach resident who played high school baseball at Blair Field, Nguyen sees the team as both an entertainment destination and a community asset.
“We have great Little League programs, Long Beach State and championships,” Nguyen said. “Now we have professional baseball.”
The Coast have also embraced local culture through their Friday night alter ego, the Long Beach Regulators, backed by Long Beach music icon Warren G. For Nguyen, the biggest victory may be seeing families return to the ballpark.
“It’ll be a fun family atmosphere,” he said. “Baseball is back in town.”
Nobody knows yet what the Long Beach Coast will become, but what is certain is that on summer evenings, the lights will once again shine over Blair Field, illuminating a ballpark that has spent nearly seventy years serving as a gathering place for a city that never stopped believing in baseball.