Santa Cruz Seaweed: Independent Baseball Slides Into Surf City

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Play ball, Santa Cruz! The city now has its own baseball team, the Santa Cruz Seaweed, which will play every Saturday night at Harvey West Park.

The Santa Cruz Seaweed is the fourth team in the greater San Francisco Bay Area to play in the Pacific Division of the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs, an independent league based in Houston. The team will play its rival across the bay — the Monterey Amberjacks — as well as the San Rafael Pacifics, Martinez Sturgeon, Wasco Reserves and Bakersfield Train Robbers.

The decision to come to Surf City was an easy one, said Pecos League Commissioner Andrew Dunn, who chose Santa Cruz over roughly 20 interested cities. The weather is cool, the location of the city complements the other Bay Area teams and cuts down on players' travel costs, and Harvey West Park had availability to host games, he said.

The league initially planned to launch the Santa Cruz Seaweed team in 2020, but coronavirus pandemic restrictions pushed back opening day. Despite getting off to a late start, the team's first home game last month sold out, Dunn said.

"I think [Santa Cruz] is a great place" for baseball, he said. "We obviously proved that."

The team is currently ranked third in the league's Pacific Division standings, two spots above rival team the Monterey Amberjacks. The Santa Cruz Seaweed comprises 20 players, many of whom live in the area, Dunn said.

Like seaweed, the team's colors are shades of green: Kelly, lime and forest.

The team will play four or five days per week through the season's end on Aug. 7, he said. The Santa Cruz Seaweed continues to search for a field manager.

You can root for the home team at 7 p.m. every Saturday at 326 Evergreen St. Tickets are $10.

Concessions will not be available at Harvey West Park this season, but the league hopes to offer them in the future.

Learn more about the Santa Cruz Seaweed here.