Long Beach Coast professional baseball team celebrates Tuesday's home opener

Tonight at 6:35 p.m., the Long Beach Coast professional baseball team will compete in its first home game at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Long Beach Coast is part of the Pioneer Baseball League, an MLB Partner League, with teams here in California, Montana, Idaho, and Utah, and the Long Beach team is the newest addition.

Team manager Troy Percival played 14 MLB seasons from 1995 to 2009, including making the final throw for the Anaheim Angels in the 2002 World Series.

"I am excited about the type of play you are going to see," Percival said during a Tuesday news conference.  "You're going to see guys that are grinding, you're not going to see guys jogging the bases. You will see hard-nose play all day, diving for balls …"

The team just came off its inaugural road trip, during which it went 9-3. Although it's sold out, Tuesday night's game will kick off a 12-game homestand against the RedPocket Mobiles and the Modesto Roadsters.

Staff also includes former M.L.B. players Troy Glaus and Jerome Williams.

"So the kids are getting very good instruction, we're teaching them how to win—something I think has been neglected in baseball for quite a few years," Percival said.

"It's been totally skill-based, as opposed to now, we're teaching kids how to win."

Long Beach Coast has an alter ego: the Regulators, who come out on Friday nights. Rap icon Warren G is a part-owner of the team and had a part in building the alter ego.

"Long Beach has always set its own tone and had its own swagger. This baseball team, the Coast, represents the heart of the city, but the Regulators legacy will always be part of Long Beach culture," Warren G. wrote on the Long Beach Coast home website.