Irvine Looks to Rebuild in a Big Way

The revived baseball program at UC Irvine will not begin play until the 2002 season. However, jockeying for what has become a coveted coaching position at the school has begun in earnest.

The chance to build a program around a new stadium in the heart of one of the most talent-rich regions of the country is rumored to have drawn interest from former major league player Bob Boone, former Cal State Fullerton and current Texas Coach Augie Garrido and several Southland and Northern California Division I assistants and junior college coaches.

Dan Guerrero, athletic director at Irvine, will not reveal who has contacted him directly or through intermediaries, but he did estimate that he has fielded at least 80 inquiries--and the job won’t officially be posted until next month.

Guerrero said he hopes to interview candidates through June and July and hire his coach by late July or early August.

“I’m looking for someone who wants to build this program into a national contender as soon as possible,” said Guerrero, who became Irvine’s athletic director in November 1992, seven months after the school dropped its baseball program because of budget cuts. “Someone great in the community who can foster the kind of public relations that get people excited about coming out to a new stadium. Someone not afraid of a monumental challenge.”

Someone named . . . Andy Lopez?

Neither Guerrero nor Lopez will say it, of course, but the Florida coach is regarded as the overwhelming favorite to get the job if he wants it.

Lopez guided Pepperdine to the 1992 national championship and has taken Florida to the College World Series twice in his five years in Gainesville.

Lopez, 45, and Guerrero, 48, have known each other since high school, when Lopez played at San Pedro and Guerrero at Wilmington Banning. They were teammates at UCLA. Lopez was the coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills when Guerrero was hired as associate athletic director at the school in 1983.

The two men have remained close friends.

Florida has been depleted by injuries this season but began the week 28-16-1 overall and 10-7-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators are in second place in the Eastern Division behind South Carolina, the top-ranked team in the nation.

“We have never talked about the job in regard to Andy Lopez,” said Lopez, whose contract at Florida is among the most lucrative in college baseball. “I think [Guerrero] knows that in my heart, my goal is to get this team to the playoffs.

“When the season ends, would it surprise me if he called me? Probably not.”

Said Guerrero: “There are candidates that are employed at other campuses, and it would not be ethical to talk to them about the job until their seasons are complete.”

Meanwhile, Guerrero has visited Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia and San Diego State to collect information about stadiums at those schools, which are considered among the best in the country. He expects architects to have a model of the Irvine facility within two weeks and said the first phase of construction will begin in the fall.

The stadium will be built in phases and will cost between $6 and $7 million when it’s completed, Guererro said. There will be 2,400 to 2,800 seats with seat-backs, and grass-covered, banked areas that will push capacity to about 4,000.

“We want to build a nationally recognized program and a facility that will allow us to host a regional,” he said.

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Unranked USC plays host to No. 4 Stanford, and No. 21 UCLA travels to No. 3 Arizona State for Pacific 10 Conference series starting Thursday.

USC, 26-15 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-10, fell out of Baseball America’s top 25 after losing two of three games to California last weekend. The Trojans are in fourth place in the Pac-10 behind Arizona State (39-9, 9-3), Stanford (29-9, 9-3) and UCLA (24-15, 7-2).

“If we are going to be a contender for the conference championship, we need to sweep [Stanford],” USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. “If we win two games, we could call it a good weekend and put ourselves in line as a solid playoff team. If we win one, we’re playing for fourth or fifth place and become one of those bubble teams [for the playoffs].”

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Long Beach State, ranked 20th, took a half-game lead in the Big West Conference by winning two of three against No. 22 Cal State Fullerton last weekend. Long Beach (25-13, 13-5) travels to UC Santa Barbara (18-18, 8-7) for a Big West series starting Thursday. Fullerton (22-13, 11-4) travels to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (19-18, 10-8).

Loyola Marymount (26-14, 13-5 in the West Coast Conference) is ranked 17th in the Collegiate Baseball poll after winning two of three games against Portland. The Lions play host to San Diego (25-20-1, 8-9) in WCC games Thursday and Saturday.

Pepperdine (24-18, 12-5) lost a conference series against San Francisco for the first time last weekend. The Waves, who have lost consecutive WCC series for the first time since 1991, play host to Santa Clara (14-29, 5-13) Friday and Saturday.