Guerrero Discovers Diamonds Aren’t Forever at UCI

IRVINE — One thing catches Dan Guererro’s eye at this time each year.

“I’ll open the newspaper and see collegiate baseball scores,” said Guerrero, UC Irvine’s athletic director. “For a brief moment, it gives me a sense of mourning.”

If Guerrero had a wish, he would likely use it to revive baseball at Irvine. He was, after all, a second baseman at UCLA in the early 1970s.

But that only gives one a sense of just how difficult it would be to bring back the sport. If a man who fawns over the sport can’t see it happening--at least not in the near future--then it can’t be done.

“There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about having a baseball program here,” Guererro said. “I’m truly envious of Fullerton and Long Beach. They not only sponsor it, they sponsor it on a national level.

“Then reality sets in. My first obligation is to continue to work with existing programs, to try to enhance them all so they can be successful.”

Baseball was eliminated at Irvine in 1992 as part of sweeping cuts in athletics that saved the university more than $500,000 annually. Men’s cross-country and track and field also were dropped. Those two programs were reinstated as non-scholarship sports.

By the time Guerrero took over, baseball coach Mike Gerakos, his friend and former UCLA teammate, was out of a job. The baseball field remained. It has been used by the soccer teams, as well as the rugby and lacrosse club teams. But Guerrero still refers to it as a baseball stadium.

“There’s a reason we kept the [baseball] scoreboard,” Guerrero said. “We want it known as a baseball field.”

Guerrero would like to see it again used by a baseball team. He points out that Irvine is the only Division I university in Southern California that doesn’t have a team. He also sees the wealth of talent in the area.

Then he sees the lack of wealth in his athletic budget.

Guerrero estimates that baseball would cost between $250,000 and $350,000 annually. That figure would double because the university would need to add a women’s sport, such as softball, to keep its gender-equity balance.

“That would be a wonderful thing to do,” Guerrero said. “But our motivation is to take care of existing programs before we look at expansion.”

Still, Guerrero can’t help but dream.

“When baseball is brought back, it would need to be brought back where it can be competitive with Long Beach and Fullerton,” Guerrero said. “I’ve been contacted by several individuals and they have offered to help. I assured them, when we are in a position to move, they will be contacted.”

But those thoughts are always punctured by reality.

“Once again, it’s not imminent,” Guerrero said. “The reason it was dropped made sense.”