Ballpark Christened: Chabot College's Field of Dreams
By Matt Schwab
Chabot Athletics
HAYWARD - Chabot's sparkling new baseball facility, Steve Friend Stadium, was officially christened on Saturday.
The much-anticipated event represented a grand slam for Chabot athletics, the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, and local community.
Every time Chabot baseball coach Will Tavis, his staff and players walk out onto the new turf field there's a 'Wow factor.'
"It's just a special place to come to work every day," Tavis shared on Saturday morning. "It's a special place to come out and be able to teach life skills and life lessons through the game of baseball. It's been outstanding. … Everyone in our program is extremely grateful to go out there on a daily basis. The 'Wow factor' hasn't worn off, I don't know if it ever will."
The $9 million project boasts upgrades on the playing field, bleachers, lighting, dugouts, batting cages, bullpens and scoreboard. It's funded by the 2016 Measure A Bond for Chabot and Las Positas colleges.
It was an easy decision for Tavis to suggest naming the facility after his mentor, Friend.
"I'm real happy for Steve. It was well deserved," Tavis said. "I wanted to be able to honor a guy that's done so much for the program and the college. His dedication and commitment speaks for itself."
Chabot is practicing in earnest at the renovated facility, which is already hosting community events. The playing field honors late Chabot coaching legend Gene Wellman.
"It's an asset to the program in a major way," Tavis says of the magnificent ballpark. "We've been able to get teams from the community to come out and see the field and see the facility and be able to utilize it and play on it. Our baseball team has been on it quite frequently. Our players, they love it. Our coaches, we love it. It came out really, really well."
During a recent interview, Kevin Kramer, Chabot Dean of Health, Kinesiology and Athletics, praised the key members of his team for the stadium project.
"This whole effort is a testament to Athletic Director Jeff Drouin, and to Dale Wagoner, Vice President of Administrative Services, who was the Dean before me, and Stacy Thompson, Vice President of Academic Services, to commit to our student-athletes," Kramer said. "This would not have happened without our senior administration."
Wellman coached at Chabot from 1963-76 and spent 26 years as athletic director. He passed away in 2016, four years after the dedication ceremony to name the original field for him.
"We want to keep the tradition going," Tavis said recently. "Gene Wellman was the first one, the one who created the tradition of Chabot College baseball."
Friend, who remains on the Chabot faculty, coached the Gladiators from 1989 until five seasons ago when Tavis took over as head coach after serving as a longtime assistant under Friend. Tavis considers Friend
part of his family.
"Steve's been there for so long and he's had so much success in the way he's impacted all the players who have come through his program; it was a no-brainer and just a slam dunk all the way (to name the stadium after him)," said Tavis, who's been in the Chabot program for 21 years. "He's been an iconic figure at Chabot for three decades."
Chabot has been playing fall games in its non-traditional season, but the first game of the traditional season is at the end of January.
Tavis likes the talent level on his current squad, in a program known for its academic excellence.
"We have some talented individuals and they're outstanding people as well," Tavis said. "The field obviously helped with (recruiting), but our assistant coaches and myself, we've gone out and went after guys that we want to bring into the program that are not only talented individuals but also really good people. We like our guys and we like our talent."
He shared the mission statement the team created when they were building the new facility: "Player development drives the bus."
Tavis says "we want to develop good people who are going to make a positive impact in the world."
Tavis said a few players could eventually have baseball draft potential and add to the long list of Chabot alumni to play in the Major Leagues, from the likes of Dick Tidrow, Ned Yost, Bip Roberts, Nate Schierholtz, Mark Davis, Darren Lewis, George Mitterwald, Aaron Ledesma and many others.