History of Baseball at Pershing Park
The Vaqueros play their home games in Pershing Park, located at the intersection of Castillo Street and Cabrillo Boulevard. Pershing Park is located in a picturesque setting, adjacent to the Santa Barbara waterfront and harbor. The park, which features ocean and mountain vistas, is accentuated by the historic 300-year-old Moreton Bay Fig tree that stands vigil along the right-field line.
Pershing Park is currently a multi-use facility shared by baseball, softball and tennis. The joint-use agreement between the City of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College has been part of the history of the park since the opening of Santa Barbara City College. During the early decades of the 20th century, local semi-professional baseball teams used the complex, sharing it with the professional rodeo circuit prior to the building of Earl Warren Showgrounds.
During the early days of Pershing Park, local baseball teams hosted games against traveling professional teams in the winter months. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig brought their "Barnstorming" teams to Pershing Park as did Robert "Satchel" Paige's Philadelphia Royal Giants following the close of the Los Angeles Winter League. Paige brought baseball legends James "Cool Papa" Bell, George "Mule" Suttles and Andrew "Pullman" Porter to play at Pershing Park. Tim Badillo, who owned the the Santa Barbara Cubs and later founded the Santa Barbara Foresters, enticed the legendary Satchel Paige to pitch for the Cubs against other professional teams visiting Santa Barbara.
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