Gulls Need Rooms for Bat and Breakfast

Want to rub elbows with a potential major league player?

Contact the Ventura Gulls and you can even have breakfast with one. In your own home.

The first-year team in the Class-A California League is looking for families that can house players during the season. A room-and-board arrangement would be preferable to players sharing an apartment, said Jim Biby, Gulls general manager.

“That would be outstanding,” Biby said of the family plan. “Of course, the guys are willing to pay. They don’t make much but could afford a couple hundred dollars a month.”

The minor league team will arrive in Ventura from the Toronto Blue Jays training facility in Dunedin, Fla., on April 8. Toronto is the Gulls’ parent club.

Opening day is April 11 against Reno, which gives players little time to secure housing. In the meantime, the Gulls will stay at a Ventura hotel. Most of the players, ranging in age from 18 to 22, will not have cars, so homes in Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo would be more desirable. Gulls home games will be played at Ventura College.

Just about the time they settle into living quarters, the Gulls will leave home. Following the three-game series against Reno, Ventura travels to Bakersfield and Visalia before returning home April 23 for a doubleheader with Fresno.

Biby watched many of the future Gulls play last week in Florida.

“From what I saw, we should have excellent speed and guys who can drive the ball,” he said. “Not big power, but line-drive hitters.”

Notes

The King and His Court, of softball fame, will play a team of Ventura-area broadcasters Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ventura College. Game proceeds will go to the Ventura County Foundation, which is raising funds for a permanent stadium for the Gulls. Tickets are $3. . . . The Gulls’ opening-day ceremonies begin at noon. Game time is 1 p.m. . . . On April 12, the 11 a.m. game against Reno will be followed by a parade for the team at the Ventura Harbor. . . . Tickets to Gulls home games are on sale at the team’s Ventura College office. Season tickets are available. Prices are $3 for adults, $2 for children. Information: (805) 642-0255.