Horse racing: Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar challenges horsemen, bettors

• October 24, 2024

For any major sports event that moves from place to place from year to year, the venue can be a big part of the story. That’s true of the Breeders’ Cup, whose moveable feast of multimillion-dollar thoroughbred races has visited a dozen tracks in eight states and provinces in its 40 years. And nowhere is it more true than at Del Mar, which hosts the 14-race festival for the third time next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1-2.

Del Mar’s quirky main track and turf course can dictate strategy for horsemen and horseplayers, or leave them guessing over the next week.

Among them is Chad Brown, the nation’s highest-earning trainer in 2024, a four-time winner of the annual Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding trainer and the most successful Breeders’ Cup trainer in recent years. The horses Brown entered this week include contenders in as many as seven Breeders’ Cup races. But many of those are horses whose come-from-behind running style could be compromised if the Del Mar main track plays the way it often did during the summer season.

“It’s a bit concerning that the track favored (early) speed at the most recent meet,” Brown, who’s based in New York, said this week when I asked him about it on a Breeders’ Cup media conference call. “Hopefully it’ll change a little bit. These tracks do change.”

It’s not only the racing surface that could work against late-running horses, including Brown’s Sierra Leone in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, the main event of the second day, and Chancer McPatrick in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the focus of the first day.

“The shorter stretch at Del Mar would also be a bit of a concern for horses that close,” Brown said. “So these are real challenges for those two horses to get to the winner’s circle. We’ll have to overcome it.

“Certainly it’s not impossible for horses that are coming from well off the pace to win at Del Mar. We’ve seen it before. My hope would be that they wouldn’t be quite as far back in these races.”

Del Mar and Breeders’ Cup executives can’t promise how the track will be, and with the Del Mar fall meet opening Thursday we’ll have only one afternoon of pre-Breeders’ Cup racing to judge by.

“The track at Del Mar can be a little bit different during the fall meet than it is during the summer meet,” said Tom Robbins, executive vice president for racing industry relations at Del Mar and executive director of the Breeders’ Cup selection panel. “Hopefully we can achieve all that we want: fairness from inside to outside (of the track), and the safest possible surface.”

Bettors are already analyzing the lists of 212 “pre-entered” horses announced Wednesday, including a Breeders’ Cup-record 80 from overseas. Handicapping will get more intense after fields, post positions and official morning-line odds are finalized Monday.

Some of Del Mar’s sharpest handicappers talked about the factors, specific to Del Mar, that they’re weighing.

• The possible speed bias of the dirt track.

Although overall statistics show front-running horses at the Breeders’ Cup distances on dirt won no higher a percentage of races in the Del Mar summer season than, say, at the current Santa Anita fall meet, there were many afternoons at the San Diego County track when early speedsters could not be caught.

“Speed is always a good commodity, but it seemed unbeatable on certain days,” said Bob Ike, proprietor of BobIkePicks.com and co-host of the Thoroughbred Los Angeles radio show.

“If the main track is anything like it was during the meet earlier this year, speed will be king,” said Bob Mieszerski, the Southern California News Group’s lead handicapper.

In the 2021 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, front-runners won four of the seven dirt races, including Knicks Go in the 1¼-mile Classic. In 2017, only one front-runner won, but it was Gun Runner in the Classic.

• The short homestretch, which measures 919 feet from the turn to the finish – shortest among one-mile tracks in the United States – gives stretch runners less ground to work with.

Handicapper, radio host and horse owner Jon Lindo calls the short stretch the “biggest difference” about Del Mar.

“Riders with local knowledge – especially on the dirt course – have a slight edge on knowing when to move,” Lindo said. “(A) 1¼-mile dirt race at Del Mar has proven to be a ‘short’ race for the distance, meaning horses that at other tracks have struggled to get the distance have proven successful at Del Mar.”

• A home-track advantage appears negligible. Horses who ran their previous race in California scored one win at the 2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar and two in 2021, fewer than average in the era of two-day Breeders’ Cups. This may reflect a general decline in the strength of California contingents.

• Post position can be decisive on the Del Mar turf, especially in 5-furlong sprints (like the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and Juvenile Turf Sprint), which start close to turns.

“I won’t take a short price on a horse who is very likely to lose a lot of ground in a turf race,” said Frank Scatoni, the online handicapper, Del Mar seminar host and “Six Secrets of Successful Bettors” author. “But if that same horse was 10-1, I might feel OK about it.”

Chad Brown, who has contenders Carl Spackler in the Mile and Zulu Kingdom in the Juvenile Turf, said he hopes his grass-course horses “draw more toward the inside.”

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On the media conference call, Brown criticized another Del Mar quirk when he was asked about the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf by my Southern California News Group colleague Jay Posner: That race will be run at 1⅜ miles, as it was in 2021, instead of 1⅛, as in 2017. Brown declined to enter horses he thinks are unsuited to the distance. Fewer than half of the pre-entered horses have raced that far. It’s one more challenge for handicappers.

A Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar presents trainers, jockeys and bettors with more decisions to make than usual, and potential rich rewards for making the right ones.

Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at Twitter.com/KevinModesti.

​ Orange County Register 

Horse racing notes: Stay Hot tries to close out Santa Anita meet with win

• October 24, 2024

SANTA ANITA LEADERS

(Through Sunday)

Jockeys / Wins

Juan Hernandez / 18

Umberto Rispoli / 15

Antonio Fresu / 11

Tyler Baze / 7

Hector Berrios / 7

Trainers / Wins

Phil D’Amato / 13

George Papaprodromou / 12

Bob Baffert / 11

Doug O’Neill / 8

Mark Glatt / 6

Michael McCarthy / 6

WEEKEND STAKES

SANTA ANITA

Friday

• $85,000 Anoakia Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 6 furlongs

Saturday

• $200,000, Grade II Twilight Derby, 3-year-olds, 1⅛ miles on turf

Sunday

• $100,000, Grade III Autumn Miss Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 1 mile on turf

LOS ALAMITOS

Saturday

• $100,000 Wild West Futurity, 2-year-old quarter horses, 350 yards

Sunday

• $1 million, Grade I Golden State Million Futurity, 2-year-olds, 400 yards

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Closing weekend of the Santa Anita fall meet features the Twilight Derby on Saturday. Stay Hot (Antonio Fresu riding), winner of four of six lower-level stakes, seeks his first Grade II and first 1⅛-mile victory for trainer Peter Eurton after running a sharp second in the Del Mar Derby at this level and distance.

• The Anoakia Stakes will be run Friday after drawing too few entries to be held as scheduled last Sunday. Bob Baffert trains three of the five 2-year-old fillies in the 6-furlong sprint, including Grade III runner-up Casalu (Martin Garcia) and 10-length debut winner Silent Law (Juan Hernandez).

• Santa Anita’s Friday card offers a double carryover in the pick 6, on races 4-9. After nobody combined all six winners on Saturday or Sunday, the carryover is $153,104.78, and the track projects the pool to grow to more than $750,000.

• In Los Alamitos night racing, fastest qualifier American Dreamin is favored in Sunday’s $1 million Golden State Million Futurity for leading quarter-horse jockey Armando Cervantes, trainer Monte Arrossa and owner Dunn Ranch. The 2-year-old filly can give Dunn Ranch its third futurity of 2024. Up to Party won the Ed Burke Million Futurity and PCAHRA Breeders Futurity and is pointing for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity trials Nov. 24.

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• In one of the weirder award announcements, Luan Machado was named Jockey of the week for Oct. 14-20 by the Jockeys’ Guild. Machado won two Grade III stakes at Keeneland last weekend, with Brunacini in the Perryville and Chop Chop in the Dowager Stakes. But the previous Wednesday he had made an embarrassing error, costing Ultimate Strike a maiden win – and the horse’s bettors a 13-1 payoff – by easing up at the wrong finish line. The Jockeys’ Guild news release called Machado’s week “an example of the highs and lows of race riding.” The satirical Racing Onion tweeted: “Even we couldn’t come up with this one.”

— Kevin Modesti

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks for Friday, October 25, 2024

• October 24, 2024

The consensus box of Santa Anita picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Eddie Wilson, Kevin Modesti and Mark Ratzky. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Friday, October 25, 2024.

Trouble viewing on mobile device? See consensus picks

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​ Orange County Register 

USC football can take advantage of Friday night lights against Rutgers

• October 24, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Toward the end of Greg Schiano’s short-lived coaching tenure in the NFL, he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers flew roughly 3,000 miles from Florida to Seattle to play the Seahawks.

The Rutgers coach pointed out, at July’s Big Ten Media Days, that it  was roughly the same distance from New Jersey to Los Angeles – 2,800 miles. He’d been through the details before, he reasoned. Football was football, he emphasized repeatedly, at any question trying to prod at the sheer reality of traveling cross-country in the Big Ten.

“At the end of the day, you gotta go out there and you got to block and tackle, you got to throw and catch, you got to play the game of football,” Schiano said that day in Indianapolis. “And I think sometimes people lose sight, they get all caught up in the semantics of the trips and things.”

But Schiano, still, could’ve never expected the conference he’d known for decades to suddenly feature USC. And as the first showdown in the two programs’ long histories dawns, those particular semantics look rather imposing when stacked together.

Rutgers is coming to L.A. on a short week – a Friday matchup completely shifting practice schedules, a few days after UCLA flew to New Jersey and knocked off the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers will play at the Coliseum at 8 p.m. in a new iteration of Big Ten After Dark – kicking off a football game with all their body clocks set to 11 p.m. back home.

The Scarlet Knights will be dragging in a roster decimated by injuries – their two top tight ends, a starting left guard and an explosive backup halfback all ruled out for the season.

“We’ll see,” Schiano said, sighing, amid a response on Rutgers’ rash of injuries. “We’ll see who the 74 are that get on the plane. That’s a challenge too, right?”

Friday night’s contest will be fascinating in its novelty, pitting a home program struggling with the metaphysical concept of finishing games against an East Coast team that will have to physically counter being too tired to finish. After preaching the need to “separate,” as Trojans coach Lincoln Riley pointed out Tuesday amid a near-incomprehensible string of late losses, this 3-4 USC program has a golden opportunity for a cleanse against a Rutgers (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) program that has to contend with a whole lot more than Los Angeles traffic.

Through the midway point of the season, Big Ten schools that have made a trip to or from the West Coast in a game involving the former Pac-12 programs, with any travel distance of more than 1,500 miles, are 5-11. The Friday night matchup is the kicker, forcing Schiano to completely rethink his travel philosophy.

Generally, Schiano’s programs have never flown out especially early to an away game on the West Coast, preferring to stay on Eastern time, he said in a press conference with local media Monday. It didn’t work in the NFL, nor in college.

But his hand was forced with Friday’s late kickoff, and Schiano told media that Rutgers was flying out Wednesday night and practicing Thursday in Southern California, a chance for players’ body clocks to adjust.

“At 2:30 in the morning,” Schiano said, referring to Eastern time, “hopefully the game is on the line. And I don’t like my decision-making at 2:30. And I don’t really like our players’ decision-making at 2:30, either.”

There hasn’t been an overwhelming amount of public outrage with the increased mileage in an expanded Big Ten, the most noise coming from Penn State’s James Franklin, who pointed out two weeks ago before a trip to USC that Penn State had to drive 90 minutes to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to fly out of an airport with a runway long enough for a larger aircraft. Riley’s comments on the topic, largely, have amounted similar to Schiano’s: football’s football. And there’s little mental-health issues that could arise from extended travel, Dr. Peter Economou, Rutgers’ director of behavior health and wellness for its athletics programs, told the Southern California News Group in the summer.

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“I mean, I think this is an age group that is resilient,” Economou said, speaking of the Big Ten transition’s effect on athletes’ mental health. “I don’t know if that’s going to be a popular response, but they’re resilient, they’re motivated, I mean, they’re excited. They want to do this.”

It’s hard to imagine, though, that this – flying westward early for a game played on body clocks set to the wee morning hours – is their ideal outcome.

USC (3-4, 1-4) vs. Rutgers (4-3, 1-3)

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

TV/radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/ESPN 710

​ Orange County Register 

Dan Albano’s Top 5 matchups to watch in the Mater Dei-St. John Bosco football showdown

• October 24, 2024

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The Top 5 matchups to watch in the Mater Dei-St. John Bosco game Friday at Santa Ana Stadium:

1. Can St. John Bosco slow Mater Dei’s ground attack?

This is the No. 1 question for a few reasons. Orange Lutheran running back Steve Chavez rushed for a season-high 131 yards on 22 carries (6.0 yards per carry) against St. John Bosco in the teams’ Trinity League opener. Servite running back Quaid Carr went for 166 yards on 21 carries (7.9 ypc) against the Braves last week. What will Mater Dei running back Jordon Davison do?

The Oregon-committed senior has 592 yards (6.7 ypc) rushing behind an offensive line that is better than its rivals at Orange Lutheran and Servite.

Davison also could run with some extra motivation after injuries limited him in two games against the Braves last season.

The Monarchs will support Davison — one of their emotional leaders — with the dual-threat capabilities of QB Dash Beierly and a talented combination of wide receivers and tight end Mark Bowman.

St. John Bosco’s defense is in the spotlight after surrendering 422 yards of offense to Orange Lutheran but has made strides in this area the past two games.

2. How will Koa Malau’ulu handle the pass rush of Mater Dei? 

The Braves now feature the standout freshman at QB following the transfer of Matai Fuiava to Kahuku of Hawaii. Malau’ulu is 2-0 as the starter, including an impressive second-half rally against Orange Lutheran. He plays with poise beyond his years and has thrown some exceptional passes — short and deep.

Mater Dei’s defense is outstanding, especially with its ability to pressure quarterbacks. Nasir Wyatt and Shaun Scott are explosive edge players and Tomu Topui and Semi Taulanga can create pressure up the middle.

Like Davison, Wyatt could be playing with extra motivation. The reigning Register defensive player of the year and Oregon commit was quiet against the Braves last season, including an early injury in the CIF-SS Division 1 final.

St. John Bosco could look to support Malau’ulu by committing more to the run or sticking with its short passing attack.

3. How does Mater Dei’s defense fare in pass coverage?

The St. John Bosco unit that seems to draw the most attention from opposing coaches is its athletic wide receivers. Juniors Madden Williams (6-2, 182), Carson Clark (5-9, 172), Daniel Odom (6-3, 191) and Christian Davis (5-11, 175) combine size, speed and playmaking. The group is arguably the best in the Trinity League.

Mater Dei’s counters with the best secondary. Cornerbacks Daryus Dixson (Penn State) and Chuck McDonald (Alabama) have proven they don’t need much help in pass coverage. Safety CJ Lavender Jr. has continued to improve while Danny Lang II, freshman Ace Leutele and sophomore Aaryn Washington have emerged.

The Monarchs’ secondary will need to be sharp. If St. John Bosco aims for short passes, keep an eye on Mater Dei linebacker Abduall Sanders. The Alabama committed senior reads and moves well. Remember his pick-six against the Braves in the Division 1 final last season.

4. Can Mater Dei continue to win the turnover battle?

In Mater Dei’s three biggest victories this season — Centennial, Bishop Gorman and Servite — it didn’t commit a turnover. In seven games, Beierly hasn’t thrown an interception on 130 attempts. The Washington commit has completed 66 percent of his passes for 14 TDs and no interceptions.

Credit Mater Dei coach Raul Lara for emphasizing discipline in the turnover battle. The Monarchs have taken the message to heart.

But don’t dismiss St. John Bosco in this area. Malau’ulu has completed 66 percent of his passes with 12 TDs and one interception.

5.  Which team will play better in the second half?

If the score is somewhat close at halftime, don’t jump to any conclusions. Mater Dei and St. John Bosco have both played well in the second half this fall. The Monarchs pulled away from Centennial and Bishop Gorman in the second half while the Braves rallied from a 10-point deficit at intermission to beat Orange Lutheran in the final minute. St. John Bosco also dug deep to beat Santa Margarita 13-0 after the teams were scoreless after three periods.

The Monarchs have more senior experience but the younger Braves have shown their heart.

RELATED COVERAGE

https://twitter.com/ocvarsityguy/status/1849127122092122461

Steve Fryer’s preview, prediction for St. John Bosco vs. Mater Dei in Trinity League showdown

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​ Orange County Register 

State announces $125 million award to OCTA for coastal rail protection

• October 24, 2024

The state announced $125 million in funding for the Orange County Transportation Authority to help protect a key rail line through San Clemente, a big boost toward an estimated $300 pricetag for projects identified to safeguard against the sea that batters the tracks along a vulnerable coastal stretch.

Another $38 million is going toward San Diego efforts to protect the tracks, both funding awards announced by the California State Transportation Agency during a gathering held at San Clemente State Beach on Thursday, Oct. 24. The site overlooks an area where a reactivated ancient landslide and big waves did enough damage to shut down the rail line for months in 2021 and 2022.

Toks Omishakin, the state’s transportation secretary, said the funds are part of $1.3 billion throughout the state being announced for transportation improvements.

“It’s not very often that you get a chance to work on programs, policies and projects where you see the direct impact that it’s going to have on people in the communities that we’re serving,” said Omishakin.

The funds for the project will help stabilize and protect four sections of a 7-mile stretch of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo, or LOSSAN, Corridor for the next 25 to 30 years, Omishakin noted.

“It is simply not an option to accept regular shutdowns of rail service in this section of the corridor as the status quo,” he said. “We can’t normalize the fact that this corridor routinely shuts down, and has to consistently fight every winter season or every rainy season to try to get it back open. We cannot normalize that. We have to get to a place where we protect these shores and protect this rail line.”

San Clemente City Councilmember Rick Loeffler said the funding for OCTA’s plans is a welcome surprise.

“You never really believe it until something comes to fruition,” he said. “This is surprising, we know that the state’s been in such a challenge for money and so the fact that they’re actually writing a check is just great news.”

Tam Nguyen, chair of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s board of directors, called it a “momentous, celebratory day.”

The 351-mile LOSSAN line is used by both passenger and freight trains. Pre-pandemic, there were 8.3 million annual boardings, Nguyen said, with 70 daily freight trains that moved an estimated $1 billion in goods along the corridor. There are 150 daily passenger trains along this corridor.

Landslides and damage from waves have already cost taxpayers $37 million since 2021 and caused five closures of the rail line, some lasting for months and preventing train travel between San Diego and northern points.

“Its importance cannot be overstated,” Nguyen said of the rail corridor. “Our goal moving forward is to work hard to find solutions, both short term and long term to ensure these trains keep moving.”

Protecting the 7-mile stretch, much of which is within 200 feet of the ocean, is essential and a key component to reducing gas emissions and providing sustainable transportation, Nguyen said.

A Coastal Rail Resiliency Study identified four hot spots in San Clemente that need to be immediately addressed, said Fifth District OC Supervisor Katrina Foley, also an OCTA board member.

“Today’s funding is so critical to helping us advance our most urgent projects and to help us protect the rail line for the immediate future, while we look to the long-term future,” Foley said.

The OCTA held earlier this year a series of public meetings on what projects its experts are looking at. Early plans called for about 500,000 cubic yards of sand replenishment and the placement of large boulders and catchment walls to protect the tracks from waves and an eroding shoreline on one side and landslides on the other.

A half-mile-long catchment wall is proposed near last year’s landslide at the Mariposa Bridg, as well as using more boulders on the beach side to keep waves from crashing on the tracks.

There would be an “engineered revetment” on the south end of town and more rocks added at San Clemente State Beach, and rocks and sand added at the north end of the beach town.

The cost for the projects has been estimated at about $300 million, according to OCTA officials.

In addition to the state’s $125 million check, about $50 million has already been committed from other sources, officials said, and the OCTA is awaiting word on requests for $133 million in federal funding.

OCTA CEO Darrell E. Johnson said a “holistic approach” will be looked at for keeping debris from falling on the tracks from the inland side and how to protect the line from the sea using both sand and rock.

“They have to work together. We’re in the early stages of specifics,” he said, noting that permits from regulatory agencies need to be obtained.  “But more importantly, we want to do it in a way that makes sense for everyone … it’s going to take a little bit of time to get it right, but it’s important to get it right.”

A project timeline aims at earning project approval in January, with contract for designing and building secured by July 2026. Construction could be complete by the end of 2027.

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​ Orange County Register 

Justin Herbert says Chargers still seek offensive identity

• October 24, 2024

EL SEGUNDO — Greg Roman made his intentions clear almost from the moment he was hired as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. He asked reporters if they could imagine quarterback Justin Herbert’s standout passing accompanied by a complementary running game in the 2024 season and beyond?

No, the reporters joked among themselves later.

They couldn’t imagine it because they had never seen it during the current pass-heavy era.

The Chargers’ determination to deploy a sound ground game for this season was admirable, and it has had its moments of success, as when running back J.K. Dobbins began the season with consecutive games of 100 yards rushing or more. But there have been an almost equal number of misses, too.

Herbert said Wednesday the Chargers are still in search of their offensive identity. Roman agreed wholeheartedly Thursday.

“Oh yeah, it’s a complete evolutionary process,” Roman said. “I said it Week 1, Week 2, probably, we’re going to evolve as the season goes on, as guys are in and out of the lineup, as guys get healthy who weren’t healthy, it’s going to change. The profile is going to change. What we do is going to change.”

“I don’t think we’ve nailed down that identity yet. In order to do that, it takes real consistency week in and week out. That’s what we’re building toward. I don’t think when you start a new program, it just jumps out. I can remember when we started in San Francisco, five weeks in, there was some rough-looking stuff.

“It takes a while, the chemistry, the offensive line playing together, quarterbacks and receivers playing together, practicing — all that stuff adds up. You’re trying to get better every day, every week. We just have to clean up some things from the other night. One more play and the questions are different.”

In fact, as it stands now, the Chargers’ identity could change from possession to possession depending on the circumstances. That much was evident during their 17-15 loss Monday night to the Arizona Cardinals when it was apparent the passing game was hot and the ground game was not.

Herbert ended up throwing for a season-high 349 yards, completing 27 of 39 passes.

The Chargers combined to rush for only 59 yards on 22 carries.

Neither the passing nor the ground games produced a touchdown, however.

The Chargers’ points came via five field goals from Cameron Dicker.

“We didn’t run the ball as well as we would have liked,” Herbert said. “Everyone is still getting settled in. We’re still finding our identity on offense, so as long as we’re able to do that and put everything together, whether it’s the run game and pass game married together, I still think we’re finding our way.”

LESSON LEARNED?

No question, rookie cornerback Cam Hart’s unnecessary roughing penalty that prolonged what turned out to be the Cardinals’ winning drive Monday night was “devastating,” as safety Derwin James Jr. put it after the game. It gave the Cardinals a free first down and 15 additional yards after an incomplete pass.

Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said he had a simple message for Hart.

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“We believe in you,” Minter said. “Let’s move on, and we’ve got a lot of faith in Cam Hart. You have to be very cognizant of the angle you go in (to tackle) with your head. That’s at all levels of football now, so it’s not new to the NFL, it’s not new to those types of plays. Guys have been getting ejected from games in college for that play for a while now. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe they called this (penalty).’

“That’s going to be called. There’s a lot of different angles you can look at it from (on replays of Hart’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Arizona wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.). Some look better than others. Some look worse than others. There’s so many different ways to look at it. It’s one of those things that happens. You can’t change it right at the moment. You can only control how you respond to things like that.”

​ Orange County Register 

How the San Quentin prison baseball team sent one player to the pros

• October 24, 2024

On Saturday mornings during baseball season at the San Quentin prison yard, 22 incarcerated athletes ditch their prison clothes to slip on black and orange baseball uniforms, a gift from the San Francisco Giants.

The prisoners hit, pitch, catch and throw like elite athletes. Some of them actually are. And were it not for the razor wire-topped wall standing between the ballfield and the peak of Mount Tamalpais on the horizon, a visitor might briefly forget they’re inside a prison.

This is the San Quentin Field of Dreams, a baseball field at California’s oldest prison and the home field for what’s believed to be the only prison baseball team in the U.S., a tradition that dates back a century.

“For three hours a couple of times a week, I’m not in prison, I’m on the baseball field,” said Martin DeWitt, a volunteer equipment manager who’s been with the San Quentin team since 2021.

San Quentin Giants’ Carrington “The Natural” Russelle (22), left, and San Quentin Giants’ Anthony T-tone Denard (21), right, laugh during a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Roster spots are difficult to come by; about 65 men compete for the 22 uniforms.

RELATED: The Warriors visit San Quentin: Humanity, storytelling and sports

The team is regularly coached by Richard Williams, who has been incarcerated for more than 30 years, with help from a volunteer, San Francisco resident Steve Reichardt. The team exclusively plays home games, but any competitive men’s team can visit the prison and take a whack at the San Quentin Giants.

Most of those teams will lose.

“They’re so fast and have so much power,” said James Stapleton, who plays for the Bay Area Vintage League, which visits San Quentin each year. (And lost 7-4 last month.) “They’re so grateful and gracious. Getting to know them on the field, laughing with them, getting stuck in a pickle, hugging afterwards when you’re out, it’s a very humanizing experience.”

The San Quentin Giants high-five each other after a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Just five years ago, the team rattled off 33 straight wins and finished 38-2 as the “greatest incarcerated team ever,” said Reichardt, now in his 16th year as the coach.

It was an unforgettable season. And it launched a second chance for one young man, Austin Thurman, who dreamed of getting his life back on track, getting out of prison and perhaps one day playing professional baseball.

Thurman grew up in the Sacramento suburbs as a boy who didn’t fit in. Living in a predominantly white neighborhood, he felt too Black. When he moved to a predominantly Black high school, he didn’t feel Black enough. He began skipping lunch just to avoid sitting by himself.

But there was one way Thurman found he could fit in: playing sports at Inderkum High and “chasing that high of acceptance.”

After high school, he played baseball at two junior colleges, but was kicked off those teams after run-ins with the law for robbery and possession of a weapon.

But in 2016, Thurman was arrested after an altercation in Grass Valley ended with an 18-year-old being shot in the head. Convicted as an accessory to attempted murder, the 19-year-old Thurman was sentenced to four years at San Quentin.

“Every day, I’d go through my day, go back in my cell, reflect, talk to myself: ‘What’d you do wrong and how could you do better?’” he recalled.

REALTED: San Quentin’s newest arrival — nation’s first prison film festival

Thurman discovered that San Quentin had a baseball team, when he noticed a few guys carrying gloves. He tried out and made the team.

“It gave you a chance to be free, to play the game you loved,” he said. “It gives you a reason to do better.”

Thurman became the star center fielder on the squad that won 33 straight games.

“Having that brotherhood, having people depend on you, it was more than just a game,” he said.

When Thurman finished his sentence in 2020, he moved to Houston to reunite with his dad, Leon — and he tried out for the independent Pecos Spring League.

Former San Quentin inmate Austin Thurman (right) with his dad, Leon, before a professional game with New Mexico’s Roswell Invaders in 2021 (courtesy Austin Thurman).

League commissioner Andrew Dunn noticed him right away, although he didn’t know his story.

“Here’s a guy who can play,” Dunn recalled thinking.

By the time he learned of Thurman’s past, Dunn was already committed to helping him. He guided Thurman, who signed first with Texas’ Galveston Sea Lions and later joined New Mexico’s Roswell Invaders.

Thurman had done the unthinkable: gone from San Quentin prison to professional baseball. He lived with a host family and earned just $50 to $100 a week, but he was leading the league, hitting .313 with six home runs and 36 stolen bases in 47 games.

”Everyone said he was going to win a triple crown,” Dunn said.  “He’s one hell of a player.”

But at age 23, Thurman said, “I felt like I was extremely old. These guys are coming from high school, college ball. I’m competing and doing better than most, but to make it to the next level, you need to be fully committed.”

Thurman retired from baseball at the end of that season to focus on finding a career and supporting his newborn daughter. After applying, interviewing and ultimately being rejected for 15 jobs, when background checks revealed his past, Thurman finally found steady work as a truck driver.

Giving up on his baseball dreams hurt, of course. “I knew in my heart that if I (had) stayed on the right track when I was younger, if I trained like that growing up…” he said.

Looking back now, Thurman isn’t sure he would have made it out of prison, if it wasn’t for the San Quentin baseball team.

“I would’ve had a lot more time on my hands, and I could’ve been doing stuff I shouldn’t have been doing,” he said. “The people in there serving a lot of time need those activities.”

Branden Terrell, a teammate at San Quentin who served a decade for voluntary manslaughter, was released in 2022 and helped organize the partnership with the San Francisco Giants, who now sponsor the team, provide equipment and occasionally visit.

The San Quentin Giants line up to play a baseball game against a group of players from the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball League at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

“That baseball program changed my life, gave me purpose and value,” said Terrell, now a father of five.

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This season, the San Quentin Giants are 20-9-3 with just one game remaining and dreams that endure.

“Something unique happens on this team, beginning from tryouts,” said shortstop Carrington Russelle. “We get out here, and we have a blast. But there’s so much that we learn out here on the field that is immediately transferable to everyday life.

“This team is full of men that are growing, that have made horrible decisions, but are trying to rebuild their lives,” he said. “We can’t undo the harm we’ve done, but we can be a living amends going forward.”

San Quentin Giants’ Carrington “The Natural” Russelle slides into third base against San Quentin Giants’ D’wan Phillips, Sr. during a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Prisoners watch a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
San Quentin Giants’ Patrick Poteat (11) signs a baseball that his team will give to Bay Area Vintage Baseball League team that play against them at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
San Quentin Giants’ Angelo Meechi (18) throws the ball from the outfield during a game against Bay Area Vintage Baseball at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
San Quentin Giants’ Aaron “June” Miles puts on his catching gear before a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
San Quentin Giants’ Martin DeWitt (27) talks with other prisoners during a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
San Quentin Giants’ Eli Guerra (5) speaks with a Vintage Baseball player during an alarm at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
The San Quentin Giants gather for a team huddle before a baseball game at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
San Quentin Giants’ Robert Nash (14) catches a ball during warmups before a game against players from the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball League at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
The San Quentin Giants up on vintage baseball gloves before a game against players from the Bay Area Vintage Base Ball League at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in San Quentin, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

​ Orange County Register