UBC Thunderbird Baseball Fan Page

Oregon State and Oregon are scheduled to play their first baseball game against each other in 28 years on on March 27. Oregon's new program, generously financed by Phil Knight of Nike fame, includes a high-profile coach, George Horton, and a brand new ballpark, which will be used by the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League during the summer.

The Ducks and Beavers have wasted no time in heating up a rivalry that goes back to 1907. Read this story in the Corvallis Gazette Times: The case of the buried OSU jersey (and, while you're at it, read the comments). A rumour got started that an Oregon State jersey or t-shirt was surreptitiously buried under Oregon's new field, and Oregon's athletic department took the rumour seriously enough to dig up the area around home plate to make sure that no Oregon State souvenirs were buried there. However, if the Beaver operatives buried something under the pitcher's mound or under the outfield, it's still there.

I think that the UBC baseball community can safely assume that no Lewis-Clark State paraphenalia is buried under the Fieldturf of UBC's new field. No word yet on whether any dirt has been transferred from the pitcher's mound of Nat Bailey Stadium, or from the pitcher's mound of Coors Field in Denver, to Point Grey.

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It's at the corner of East Mall and 16th Avenue, and has been under construction since June. (Click here and here to see how it looked then.) It should be finished in two or three weeks, and the first practice is scheduled for January 6, 2009.

The entire field is Fieldturf, and the only dirt on the entire field is the pitcher’s mound. The homeplate area, warning track, etc. is all turf. A state of the art drainage system was put in, ensuring that baseball can be played no matter how much rain we receive. It will be possible to play through rain by using "Turface" to keep the mound dry.

Here are some additional details:

• The dimensions are 335’ down the base lines and 395’ to the center field fence.
• There are two visiting bullpen mounds down the third base side and four bullpen mounds on home side.
• No maintenance is needed except for the pitcher's mound.  All baselines and the batter’s box lines are permanent as they are turf also. All the players have to do is show up and play or practice.
• There will full screens and a batting practice cage for on field batting practice.
• There are three indoor batting cages right beside the field.

MLB standard lights will be installed later in the spring. The Thunderbirds' home games will be played at Nat Bailey Stadium for the forseeable future. However, home games can be moved to the new field if the field at The Nat is unplayable.

The players and coaches are very excited about this facility. So are the Friends of Thunderbird Baseball, who have committed to raise $1.1 million to install bleachers, a scoreboard, and a press box; in other words, to turn this practice field into an actual baseball stadium. To view a brochure about this long-term plan, click here.

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Here's the announcement from the College of Idaho: College of Idaho Unveils New Baseball Stadium

No word on when it will be completed. Concordia-Portland is also building a much-needed new ballpark, Tuominen Yard. It will be under construction this spring, and Concordia will be playing their home games at WIlsonville High School.

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The 2009 schedule for the UBC Thunderbirds has been released, and you can read it by clicking here.

There are some significant changes this year. Region I is history. I've been referring to the replacement as the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), but the NAIA site calls it "Cal Pac/Cascade/Independent" and the College of Idaho site says it's the "NAIA Far West". Regardless of what it's called, there with be a Northern Division, consisting of UBC, College of Idaho, Concordia-Portland, and Corban. The Thunderbirds will play home and away four game weekend series with these teams. All four games will count in the standings; the "fourth game doesn't count" arrangement is also history. The first of these series will be on the road at Concordia-Portland Feb. 28-March 1, and the first home series will be against Corban March 13-14.

The Thunderbirds will also play one home and one away series against CCC Southern Division teams. The home series will be against Bethany (Scott's Valley, CA) April 3-4, and the away series will be at Patten, in Oakland, CA, Feb. 20-21. Oregon Tech is in the Southern Division, and the Birds will not be making that long bus ride to Klamath Falls this year.

The Patten series comes at the end of the annual California tour. This year's season starts in Redding, CA on Feb. 11, against Simpson. Simpson is a CCC Southern Division team, but this game will not count in the CCC standings. The tour includes another new opponent, Westmont in Santa Barbara (two games, Feb. 17-18). The most interesting game, other than the first-ever CCC series with Patten, should be on Feb. 12, when the Thunderbirds get another shot at Fresno Pacific. The Birds lost two games to the Sunbirds last year, but the second one was a 1-0 thriller.

One notable absence from the California tour is The Master's. This team has had the Birds' number for the past few years, so this is just as well.

The Thunderbirds have two Division I teams on the schedule this year, Washington State on March 9, and Washington on April 7. The game at Washington State comes at the end of a road trip to NAIA champion Lewis-Clark State March 6-8. L-C State comes to Nat Bailey Stadium April 26-27.

There is one other new opponent on the schedule. The Birds will make a day trip to Tacoma, WA on March 25 to play Division III U. of Puget Sound.

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The infield at Nat Bailey Stadium was under repair, so the 2008 Alumni Game became a softball game played at a city park a few blocks away. The long list of returning alumni included Jeff Francis, Matt Miller, Brent Mutis, Skye Chilton, Davey Wallace, Mark Capone, Jeff Ames, and Derran Watts.

The only UBC alumnus besides Jeff Francis currently playing pro ball is is Brooks McNiven, who spent part of the 2008 season with the Connecticut Defenders, a Giants AA farm club. His record was 2-2, 1.84 ERA. He also pitched 17 innings as an emergency callup for the Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies. The big event of his summer, however, was two starts for the Canadian Olympic Team in Beijing. He pitched six shutout innings against The Netherlands, and got a win. I had a chance to ask him some questions.

Do you know where you'll be playing next year?

No idea.

 How much time ls left on your contract with the Giants?

One more year.

Did the Giants have any problem with you going to Beijing?

No, they were pretty good about it.

When you were in Beijing, did you get to see any events besides baseball?

Yes. I saw some gymnastics and track, including the men's 100 metre final. I saw Bolt break the record.

Did you learn anything about baseball at the Olympics?

The Asian teams like Japan and Korea concentrate on hitting singles and doubles. The other teams, like Cuba, play American-style ball, hitting for power.

 Click here for more pictures from the Alumni Game.

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The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds should be competing in Division I of the NCAA. The size of the undergraduate student body is consistent with Division I, and with the current athletic budget, the Thunderbirds would be able to field competitive teams in every sport except football. UBC is also capable of providing the NCAA with a new TV market.

Unfortunately, this option isn't on the table. Division I has a freeze on new memberships until 2011, and the decision by the NCAA to allow Canadian schools to join applies only to Division II.

So, if you would like to see UBC's athletes competing against Gonzaga, Washington, Seattle U. et al, it says here that moving to Division II is the best way to get there.

What does this mean for UBC Athletics in the medium term? UBC Student Services has put out an NCAA Division II Consultation document, which contains a lot of useful information.

What I'm going to do here is address how Division II membership would affect individual sports.

Football

The two possible conference memberships addressed in the consultation document are the Pacific West Conference and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). This choice doesn't exist for football, because the Pac West doesn't have a football competition.