No More Dusty-Field Ha-Ha Baseball

Perhaps the most hilarious recent innovation at the Baja Ha-Ha has been the now-annual baseball game on the dusty dirt field at Turtle Bay. We guess it would be a stretch to call it ‘baseball,’ as there are normally about 30 people on the field, all batters get as many strikes as they need to hit a ball, and the pitches come in about 10 seconds apart. Did we mention that participation of all genders and ages is strongly encouraged?

The game — which always features as many locals as possible, including really young kids who are superb at cutting in line to bat for the 34th time — has always been played on a ragged dirt field. No more. For as the accompanying photo from Chip Prather shows, the Turtle Bay field now sports AstroTurf, and looks great. If we’re not mistaken, the light standards make it seem as though it’s ready for night games, too.

Turtle Bay, with a population of about 2,000, is baseball-mad. The last we heard, they had three superb adult teams that traveled all over Baja to compete. In addition, there are a number of kids’ teams, including one for kids six and under that recently won the Baja Championship in Cabo San Lucas.

Speaking of the Ha-Ha, it’s now possible to register online for the 21st running of this San Diego-to-Cabo rally. You’ll find the schedule of events, an FAQ and more at the official website. Leg One of the 750-mile rally begins October 27.