Frank T. Blair has got to be smiling.
Blair Field, the baseball stadium named after him, was alive with the roar of 3,000 cheering fans last week when the Long Beach Coast minor league team held its first game at the historic field.
That had to be a sweet sound for the man who, as sports editor of the Press-Telegram, campaigned for a first-rate baseball field at Recreation Park in the 1940s and 1950s.
Blair, dubbed the dean of Long Beach sports writers after serving 32 years as the newspaper’s sports editor, with his popular column, Frankly Speaking, died in 1953 of a heart attack. He was only 63 — and didn’t see his dream become a reality.
But his vision paid off when voters approved a bond issue in 1956 to build a new stadium to replace a field that had deteriorated into a dusty dirt infield and rickety grandstand.
After the bond issue passed, the big question was who to name the new stadium after.
Frank T. Blair’s Frank-ly Speaking column logo. (Press-Telegram)
Frank T. Blair. Dean of Sportswriters. (Press-Telegram)
From left, Long Beach Coast’s Jacob Jablonski tags out the RedPocket Mobiles’ Marco Martinez during a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Long Beach Coast’s Jacob Jablonski scores against the RedPocket Mobiles during a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The Long Beach Coast and RedPocket Mobiles compete in a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Long Beach Coast’s Thomas McCaffrey is introduced before competing against the RedPocket Mobiles in a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Fans of Long Beach Coast attend the inaugural opening day at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson throws the ceremonial first pitch during the Long Beach Coast’s inaugural opening day at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From left, Long Beach Coast’s Jacob Jablonski tags out RedPocket Mobiles’ Marco Martinez during a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From left, Long Beach Coast’s Patrick Roche tags out RedPocket Mobiles’ Gianni Horvat during a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Manager Troy Percival, left, and the Long Beach Coast compete against the RedPocket Mobiles in a Pioneer Baseball League game at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Mayor Rex Richardson, left, speaks during the Long Beach Coast’s season kick off press conference at Blair Field in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Frank T. Blair’s Frank-ly Speaking column logo. (Press-Telegram)
As distinguished sports writer Mike Guardabascio wrote in an article a few years ago: “In most cities, sports fields and stadiums were named after athletic heroes, men and women who thrilled audiences with their exploits. But the crown jewel of Long Beach athletic venues isn’t named after one of the city’s many Hall of Famers – it’s named after an unassuming, shy sportswriter and editor, one who thrilled audiences with a typewriter instead of a bat.”
When Blair died, he received overwhelming accolades in an obituary in the Press-Telegram for his journalistic work.
“He was the nicest sports writer I ever met,” said Bob Lemon, the Wilson High grad who became a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. “Frank never wrote anything detrimental about another person. If he couldn’t say anything good about a person, he didn’t say anything at all. He was a marvelous person.”
Harry J. Moore, director of Long Beach high schools and the longtime California Interscholastic Federation president, whose name is on the city’s high school sports league, agreed.
“Through the years, the Long Beach schools have had a real appreciation of the friendly attitude of Frank Blair toward our sports program,” Moore said. “He always had a sympathetic understanding of our problems.”
There was only one high school, Poly, when Blair first arrived in Long Beach in 1921 but he witnessed a surge in local high school sports when Wilson High School, which is right across the street from Blair Field, opened in 1926.
“Frank Blair’s contribution to the growth of Long Beach sports can never be accurately measured,” Dick Zehms, the Press-Telegram’s former sports editor, said in the newspaper’s obituary. “His was the moving hand in progress. To what better purpose can life be dedicated? Frank was a shy man, very retiring. He didn’t like to make speeches or public appearances. He preferred to write of the deeds of others – to inscribe on history’s pages the achievements of Long Beach athletes in all walks of sports endeavors.”
Blair was born in Michigan, and was a baseball and football star at Jackson High in Michigan.
He made stops at newspapers in Oklahoma City and Denver before moving to Long Beach, where he became a fixture on the local sports scene.
After the bond issue passed to pay for a new stadium, the Long Beach City Council unanimously voted to name it Blair Field. The initial funding was $260,000, but that was soon upped to $500,000 to include lighting for night games and other improvements. Blair Field has since undergone a couple of major upgrades and renovations.
The first game was played in the new Blair Field at the corner of 10th Street and Park Avenue, across from Wilson High, on April 11, 1958, and saw Poly High beat Huntington Beach High 3-1.
The official dedication ceremony was held a month later before the start of a Long Beach State game against San Diego State. Attending as an honored guest was Nelson Blair, the son and only child of Frank Blair.
In 1966, a reserved seat ticket for a Dodgers spring training game at Blair Field cost just $2. Prices are a bit more for a Coast game but still far less than what you pay to attend a major league game these days.
Over the years, according to a post on the Long Beach State website on the 50th anniversary of the new stadium in 2008, Blair Field has been home to Moore League baseball; CIF semifinal and title games; American Legion, Connie Mack and Pony League competitions, barnstorming tours featuring major league players; the 1966 Chicago Cubs for spring training with Ernie Banks and Leo Durocher; Long Beach State baseball since 1993; and, at the time, three minor league teams.
Blair Field even served as the practice facility for the Los Angeles Rams for more than a decade.
In an exhibition game at Blair against the Cubs in 1966, Hall of Famer Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants starred, hitting a double off the left field wall and singling. Leo Durocher, the Cubs manager, said, “As far as I’m concerned, this is the best field in all the spring training camps.”
Last week, for the first time in Pioneer Baseball League history, the Major League Baseball Partner League expanded to Southern California — with Long Beach and Blair Field becoming the home of Long Beach Coast.
“There’s nothing better than baseball to unite a community to have something to cheer about,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said during a press conference before the Coast’s home opener on Tuesday. “Today is more than a first game. It’s a signal that Long Beach Coast is investing in sports and is open for business.”
Troy Percival, the Coast’s manager, who played 14 years in the major leagues and was a closer on the California Angels World Series champions in 2002, said he was excited about playing in Long Beach.
“I couldn’t pass up this opportunity,” he said.
Percival called the outpouring of fans for the Coast’s first home game against the RedPocket Mobiles “insane.”
“I loved everything about tonight,” he added. “I’ve coached against Long Beach in college here and they have great fans, but tonight was another level. It was absolutely a great environment to play.”
The Coast whipped the Mobiles 13-4.
Richardson threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He was pleased that it made it to home plate on a fly.
The sellout made for long lines to get hot dogs, drinks and other food, but those in line didn’t seem to mind that much. said, “
I wish it was shorter,” said Sharon Gustaves, “but I am hungry.”
“I’m going to wait another 10 minutes,” Alex Bartosch added, “but then I’ll have to leave the line to watch the first pitch.”
After the game started, another fan, Erik Nelson was happily cheering Coast hitters.
“We love baseball,” he said. “We’ll be coming back.”
That would be a home run hit to the ears of Frank Blair.