CSULB Dirtbags Retire Jered Weaver’s No. 36 Baseball Jersey

A bittersweet moment for the Dirtbags on May 10, as Long Beach State dropped its first game of a three-game series against No. 16 UC Irvine and on a night the team held a pregame ceremony to retire legendary pitcher Jered Weaver’s No. 36.

“I remember how it was to have Dreamweaver playing when I came out for the first inning, the deuces chants from our dugouts, the knee slaps and the breakdowns of 1-2-3- dirt and the 1-2-3 bags,” said Weaver in his pregame speech.

Interim Head Coach Bryan Peters expressed gratitude for the turnout of fans that filled the stands for Weaver and how much No. 36 deserved to have his jersey retired.

“Nobody deserves it more than he does and to have him back in this place that he built, like the electricity (of the fans) that’s here. He kind of built it, from through his performances and he deserved it,” said Peters.

The Dirtbags suffered the worst loss of their season against the Anteaters, 18-3, and dipped below .500 for the first time in the season.

The ceremony highlighting Jered Weaver’s No.36 template on the back wall of Blair Field was the brightest moment of the night as family members and former coaches attended the event to commemorate the honor.

On top of his on-field contributions to Long Beach State baseball, Weaver has contributed to supporting the Jered Weaver bullpen at Bowl Diamond at Blair Field and other projects paying homage to his baseball collegiate roots.

UC Irvine pulled away at the top of the third inning with a Myles Smith home-run to put the Anteaters up six runs, and never looked back.

Besides a home-run late in the second inning by catcher John Newman Jr., the Dirtbags never managed to build momentum and only captured a spark with a stolen base by center fielder Alex Champagne late in the fifth inning.

Long Beach State lost the Black and Blue Rivalry series against UC Irvine and currently sits (23-25-1, 8-16 Big West).

The Dirtbags managed to get out of their losing slump against California Baptist the day after Mother’s Day with a 9-7 victory on May 13 and will approach the last home stint of the season with a three-game series against Hawai’i (32-15, 15-9 Big West) at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field on Friday, May 17 at 6 p.m.