Jacoby Ellsbury Makes $1Mil Donation

Earlier this week, the most decorated, and well compensated, alumni of the Oregon St. baseball program paid the Beavers back for providing the springboard to his career, when New York Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury committed $1 million to the locker and equipment room project.

"Oregon State is where I got my start," Ellsbury said. "It's where I learned - from coach Casey, teammates, and the assistant coaches - how to be a successful athlete, a successful person. For that, I am forever grateful."

Goss Stadium is on the same site that baseball has been played on the Corvallis campus, dating to 1907, and has undergone a number of renovations and improvements over the years, with the last major enhancement coming before the 2009 season, when the seats down the outfield lines were added, and the Omaha Room built, adding around 1,000 additional seats.

The baseball program has outgrown its locker room and other infrastructure, so a project to expand and enhance the locker room, update the equipment room, add team meeting space, and include both a new recruiting area and a centralized main entrance is underway.

The expected price tag is about $2.8 million, and so Ellsbury's contribution represents over 1/3 of the total cost.

"We are tremendously thankful," coach Pat Casey said of the donation. "Great facilities are at the core of great programs, and with Jacoby's generous gift we will be able to continue to offer our student-athletes a world-class experience."

In recognition of the gift, Oregon St. will name the locker room facilities in honor of Ellsbury.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com