FIELDS OF DREAMS: Mazmanian Field - Walnut, California

Our first collegiate baseball stadium review here is a local stadium…for us…that is just a jewel sitting in the hills of Walnut, California.

 

Looking over from the snack bar, I can see the land that is proposed for an NFL stadium in the nearby City of Industry. Right now, that stadiums chance of being built are slim to none.

Here, on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College…the local community college for the area…voters a decade ago approved a $201 million dollar bond to improve the college infrastructure here.  A few million dollars was used to build the new baseball stadium along with the adjacent softball field.

The field features stunning views of the rolling hills that separate Mt. SAC from its next door neighbor, Cal Poly – Pomona. On clear days, the 10,000 ft. plus peak of Mt. Baldy looms above those hills.

Just about the entire stadium is accessible. A tunnel allows access to the field under the stands, a ramp leads to the wheelchair seating at the top of the bowl, and even the press box is fully wheelchair accessible.

Home to the Mt. SAC Mounties, several players have gone on to the majors from here including Brett Tomko and Shawn Wooten. This year, 2012, the University of La Verne is also calling it home while their new stadium is being built. You can catch Milwaukee Brewers Manager Ron Roenicke’s nephew, Bryce, playing right field for the Leos in those games. Admission is free.

Here are the stats:

Opened:  2006

Surface:  Grass

Construction cost:  $7.6 million

Capacity:  500

Field dimensions: Left center – 390; Center field – 400; right center – 390

Home team: Mt. Sac Mountaineers (Mounties)  2006 – present; University of La Verne Leopards, 2012 - 2013

Events attended:  1 game

Regular seating includes theater style seats behind homeplace and for companions in the wheelchair section plus back-supported bleacher seating down the first and third base lines.

 

It’s a beautiful, modern stadium featuring some great college baseball and a lot of amenities you don’t expect at this level.

-Darryl
Copyright 2012 – Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved