Dodgers Help Altadena Round the Bases on Fire Recovery

On the January 2025 night that the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena, Zaire Calvin was training at Farnsworth Park, a place where he had spent much of his life. On Thursday morning, he returned to the same ground to witness something considerably more hopeful: the beginning of a new chapter for the park and the community surrounding it.

“This is where I’ve been my whole life,” Calvin told a gathering of residents, county officials and Los Angeles Dodgers representatives.

The occasion was a groundbreaking ceremony for two new Dodgers Dreamfields, part of a broader restoration of the historic park that includes new restrooms, improved accessibility, infrastructure upgrades and a reflection garden honoring Altadena’s resilience following the devastating January 2025 wildfire.

The baseball diamonds, designated Dodgers Dreamfields Nos. 69 and 70, are being developed through a partnership involving the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Los Angeles County and community supporters.

Dodgers pitchers Blake Snell and Emmett Sheehan joined Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Congresswoman Judy Chu and other officials for the ceremony which was led by Altadena Town Council Chair Nic Arnzen and Dodger broadcaster Jose Mota, trading baseball gloves for ceremonial shovels, as the crowd gathered beneath a postcard-bright November sky.

For Snell, the importance of rebuilding a neighborhood baseball field was personal.

“Baseball’s my life, Emmett’s life as well,” Snell told the crowd. “I couldn’t even imagine what that would’ve been like having to live life without a baseball field.”

He promised to return when the fields are finished.

Sheehan recalled visiting Altadena shortly after the fire and seeing the destruction firsthand.

“Just to see the rebuilding and how different it is from that day today, it just makes me really proud and grateful to be able to represent a community like this,” he said.

The improvements extend well beyond baseball. County plans displayed at the ceremony outlined a $3 million project for a northern restroom facility and Americans with Disabilities Act access, with completion targeted for fall 2027. Another $3.7 million in proposed infrastructure and landscape restoration improvements carries the same target date.

A separate $7 million reflection garden, featuring California poppies and native landscaping, is scheduled to begin construction in spring 2027 and be completed in spring 2028.

Barger also presented a ceremonial $1.2 million contribution toward the garden, underscoring the county’s investment in the park’s long-term recovery.

The event brought together community leaders, including Altadena Town Council Chair Nic Arnzen, Dodgers broadcaster José Mota and representatives of a host of organizations supporting the restoration.

For Chu, the groundbreaking represented something larger than improved recreational facilities.

“This community has been through so much with everything burning to the ground,” she said. “But this is a sign of hope that this community will be built back, and I can’t wait to see kids playing on the field.”

After the speeches, officials wearing blue and white construction helmets lifted shovels of earth, formally launching the work.

For Calvin, who had watched the fire threaten the place he loved, the meaning was simpler.

“We love Altadena,” he said. “This park means everything to the community.”