With a backdrop of the Santa Barbara Riviera and La Cumbre Peak, Eddie Mathews Field at Santa Barbara High School is one of the more picturesque high school baseball facilities anywhere.
“I’ll be honest, there are some times I’ll be coaching third base and I’ll look up at the Riviera and go, ‘Wow,'” Dons baseball coach Steve Schuck said. “I just laugh to myself and I miss a pitch or two. … ‘Holy cow!’”
While the view beyond the outfield fence is beautiful, the conditions inside the cozy confines off Canon Perdido Street are not in the best of shape. From an outfield scarred with divots and holes, an infield that’s not level, no permanent bathrooms or paved spectator area, Eddie Mathews Field is long overdue for an upgrade.
Schuck is working with members of a Santa Barbara High baseball support group that has started a GoFundMe account to raise money for renovations at the field named after the Baseball Hall of Famer, two-time World Series champion, 12-time All-Star, two-time National League home-run champion and a 1949 SBHS alum.
“They’ve spearheaded the fundraiser,” he said.
The organizing group, the Santa Barbara Baseball Parents Association Inc., has a donation goal of $232,000 for three of the four phases of the Baseball Facilities Improvement Project.
The phases, fittingly, carry baseball-related names: First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Home Run. Each phase includes the cost of the proposed improvements.
The $90,000 First Base phase includes permanent fencing for the entire field, a new scoreboard to be placed in left-center field and upgrading the portable restrooms.
The improvements planned under the $87,000 Second Base phase are new bleachers, backstop netting to replace the cyclone fencing, an ADA-approved asphalt spectator area, press box/snack bar building repairs and improvements, tree trimming and new equipment.
The renovation plan at Eddie Mathews Field includes keeping the old scoreboard. (Barry Punzal / Noozhawk photo)
The $55,000 Third Base phase includes a leveling of the infield, dugout improvements and a Wall of Honor to recognize significant contributions.
Costs for the Home Run phase are still to be determined. The goal is to build ADA-accessible permanent bathrooms and a locker room facility for the baseball program. The baseball parents association’s rough estimate is $100,000 to $250,000.
Schuck said many of the upgrades are about safety.
“I’ll be honest with you, and many people may not want to hear it, but the outfield is unsafe,” he said. “You go walk that outfield, and it’s unsafe.”
He said he has seen dogs running and leaving messes on the field and people hitting golf balls on it.
“One of the ways we can have more control over the field is to have a permanent fence,” he said. “We can lock down the field to make it the safest environment possible for these players.”
The new outfield fence is expected to go up in the second week of March, he said.
Schuck said he believes that when the first item is checked off the renovation list, it should trigger greater interest in the fundraising effort.
“Once that fence goes in, people are going to say, ‘Oh, they are serious about this.’ I think that will help,” he said.
Updating the baseball facility follows the $39 million renovation of Peabody Stadium.
Schuck said making upgrades at Eddie Mathews Field is long overdue.
“Football has a $40 million stadium, the gym gets redone all the time, the tennis courts get resurfaced. The two facilities that are in the worst shape are baseball and softball,” he said.
The Dons coach had a company survey the field and learned there is a 26-inch drop from home plate to the home bullpen down the right-field line.
“It’s a huge slant,” he said.
While the improvements are needed, Schuck aims to maintain the field’s charm, such as preserving the old scoreboard above the visiting team dugout on the third-base side.
“I want to keep the old scoreboard in there because it kind of fits,” he said. “It has that old-school feeling. I want to keep as much of the old stuff as possible, but make it a little newer.”
He said the fundraising group is reaching out to former Dons players and the son of Eddie Mathews, Edwin Lee Mathews Jr., to help support the effort. Mathews Jr. lives in Wisconsin.
Schuck said the project has received the support of Santa Barbara High Principal Elise Simmons and Athletic Director Todd Heil.
“I’m really thankful to Elise and Todd. They listened to me and listened to how I had this planned out and how it’s going to benefit everybody.”
He’s also met with Steve Vizzolini, head of facilities for the Santa Barbara Unified School District, and said he was open to the idea.
“I made sure at these meetings I had my quiver full and had all my information and they listened.” Schuck said. He expressed that the field “needs to match the image of the school. And it doesn’t do that.”
Schuck acknowledged the work of longtime coach Fred Warrecker in building the Dons baseball program.
“Fred spent 45 years building this into a really top-notch program,” he said. “When I got the job, I told them in my interview I want to continue this tradition. Part of continuing this tradition is make the facilities match the program.
“There’s no reason having a great program and great facilities can’t go hand in hand. The upgrades will make the kids have a better experience and the parents have a better experience. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Donations to the project can be made through mail at Santa Barbara Baseball Parents Association, P.O. Box 3233, Santa Barbara, CA 93130-3233.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
