Editor’s Note: The City of Long Beach welcomes thousands of groups each year with the anticipation that they will have a good time, spend some money, and take home pleasant memories.  Our Dr. Dan collected these comments from Hank Hager and the traveling party of Oregon State University who was in town this past weekend for baseball with the Long Beach State team.

3:23pm | The student athletes from Oregon State University liked many things about the Long Beach area, other than the fact that the Dirtbags don’t hit curveballs very well. They stayed at the Hilton near the port, overlooking a few cranes and lots of parking spaces. (“We tried to get a room with a view of the Pacific but couldn’t pull enough strings apparently.”)  In their own words, here is what they had to say.

“Normal flights for the Oregon State baseball team means the Beavers hitch a ride to their destination most times via Alaska Airlines, Horizon Airlines or Southwest Airlines.

All are fine airlines and the Beavers definitely enjoy flying them to Pac-10 destinations and elsewhere.

On Thursday, however, the Beavers had the prospect of a first when flying to Long Beach. Oregon State flew JetBlue to southern California, which enabled the members of the team to watch TV on the flight down south. At any other time of the year, that might be a nice coincidence and a good way for a two-hour distraction. But on Thursday, it was a special treat for the club as the first day of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was taking place.

The two hour flight was very comfortable and easy; that is, no real turbulence and the free TV certainly helped. OSU took off around 2:30 p.m. and landed at about 4:45 into Long Beach. That’s another plus for JetBlue; the airline flies to Long Beach, which is far smaller and therefore more convenient than Los Angeles International or any other airports in the area. When you walk into the airport it feels like you’ve been transported back to the `50s. The baggage claim is actually outdoors, covered only by an overhang.

That made for about a 15-minute drive to the hotel, which is situated on the Long Beach Harbor. The team’s hotel, a Hilton, is actually just a few blocks away from the Queen Mary, the historic ship that was built in 1934. It’s retired now and is a hotel that is docked in Long Beach.

The club saw the Queen Mary on the way to Blair Field, the site of this weekend’s games, which is just about smack dab in the middle between the hotel and the airport, so it is no more than a 10-minute drive to the park.

The club worked out for about an hour and a half at Blair Field, starting at 6:30 p.m., to get used to the nooks and crannies of the stadium. It’s certainly an old park and it plays like a cavern; LBSU has hit just one home run this season and that took place at Pepperdine on Tuesday of this week. Only Taylor Starr has played at the stadium, throwing 4 1/3 innings against the Dirtbags in 2008. And yes, Long Beach State, which is normally called the 49ers, chooses to call itself the Dirtbags in baseball. It’s just the way they like to play; get down and dirty and do anything they can to win. Certainly can’t argue with that sentiment and they’ve done well. LBSU has produced such MLB players as Troy Tulowitzki, Evan Longoria and the Weaver brothers so they are doing something right.
 
Day two has arrived for the Beavers in Long Beach, and it’s nice for the club to play a true night game on the road.

OSU has played mostly day games thus far this season, with only one real “night” game while in Texas. It’s a nice change of pace to play night games, to be honest, since it allows for the team to have a little more down time. Normally, during day games, say a 2 p.m. start, you have to get up and be moving by no later than 10 a.m. Doesn’t leave much time for a normal lunch or much more than a good breakfast (which the team gets every morning while on the road).

Night games, however, give the players and staff a chance to go out and enjoy the surrounding area. For instance, the team is staying near the Harbor in Long Beach (not far from the RMS Queen Mary) and there’s some good restaurants and areas for the guys to explore. Early reports from some of the guys is that the road race in Long Beach, called the Long Beach Grand Prix, is already being set up. The race is apparently mid-April but there are already barriers and stands being put up in advance. That must be quite the race to watch.

Through some research, it’s apparent that Long Beach is a cultural hub, especially for Hollywood. Tons of movies have been shot here, including Gone In 60 Seconds, Speed, Casablanca and The Ten Commandments. Apparently, the home to Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is also located in Long Beach and was used as a stand-in for a home that was supposed to be based in Chicago.

Lastly, for those fans attending tonight’s game or any weekend game, you’ll be sitting where the Chicago Cubs once held Spring Training. Their only year was 1966, but that’s still a pretty cool piece of history. It also hosted six MTV Rock & Jock Softball games back in the day.

(To see what happened in their baseball games please read Dr. Dan’s Diamond Dust Plus elsewhere in sports and, because it sometimes does rain in Southern California, he reports on all three games, including a rare weather-inspired Saturday double-header.)