The Orange County All-Star Baseball Game was first played in 1968. It’s been played, except for the pandemic year, every year since.
Randy Jones, representing Brea Olinda High School, pitched in the ‘68 game. He won the Cy Young Award in 1976.
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (El Modena) played in the game. So did Gerrit Cole (Orange Lutheran), Aaron Boone (Villa Park) and Nolan Arenado (El Toro). Angels pitchers Griffin Canning (Santa Margarita) and Patrick Sandoval (Mission Viejo) were in the game as were many others who would play Major League Baseball.
The 2023 game could be the last Orange County All-Star Baseball Game.
The Kiwanis Club of Greater Anaheim that organizes and manages the game can’t do it this year. Joe Dale of the Kiwanis Club, who has been in charge of the game with terrific dedication and effort for many years, said the group lacks the manpower to make a 2024 game happen.
There is hope.
At least two groups have expressed interest in helping to keep the game going.
The Ryan Lemmon Foundation that creates many baseball events including the annual Senior Showcase, a postseason group of games that includes top graduating players from 10 Orange County high school baseball leagues. Guy Lemmon and Dick Owens have shown for years that they know how to run a great event including the Ryan Lemmon Spring Tournament, March 30-April 3 at Great Park in Irvine.
Lemmon said the Ryan Lemmon Foundation might take it on.
“Our groups is working other groups to try to make it happen,” Lemmon said.
Prep Baseball California, which put together the Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational that was played earlier this season, a tournament that drew the strongest field of participants that any tournament in the state can, might step forward.
“We would be interested in exploring the opportunity,” said Les Lukach, state director of Prep Baseball California.
It’s a great game, with great people involved, from the late Irv Pickler, who did just everything any one person could do in public service in Anaheim including participating in the creation of the county all-star baseball game in ‘68, to Dale and all of the Kiwanians in between.
The 2023 Orange County All-Star Baseball Game was played on June 6 at its longtime home, La Palma Park in Anaheim.
Let’s hope that we refer to it as “the most recent” and not “the last” Orange County All-Star Baseball Game.
NOTES
On the topic of Orange County baseball history … Sandoval has been named the Angels’ Opening Day starting pitcher. He would be the third Orange County high school baseball product to be the Angels’ starting pitcher on Opening Day. The others: Andy Messersmith of Western High school had the honor for the Angels in 1970 and ‘72; and Mike Witt, Servite, 1985-89. …
The CIF Southern Section Council, the CIF-SS legislative body, at its meeting Thursday voted to support CIF State proposals that would create state championships in traditional competitive cheer and in boys volleyball. The CIF State Federated Council will vote on the proposals at its meeting April 4-5. Passage there would mean state championships in traditional competitive cheer and boys volleyball would begin with the 2024-25 school year. …
The Rocky Ciarelli Invitational on Saturday at Huntington Beach High is a three-match boys volleyball event to honor Rocky Ciarelli, one of the all-time great coaches of any Orange County sport, who coached volleyball at Edison, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor high schools. The schedule for the three best-of-five matches: Edison vs. Tesoro, 2:30 p.m.; Newport Harbor vs. Redondo Uniton, 4:15 p.m.; and Huntington Beach vs. Corona Del Mar in a Surf League match, 6 p.m. Spectator admission is $10 and is good for all three matches. …
Marina senior Quinn Hartman is a recipient of the CIF Spirit of Sport Award that goes to only six student-athletes from across California for the award. Hartman is a team captain for three Marina teams – baseball, cross country and soccer – and the founder and president of the Marina Math Club, president of the Science National Honors Society, vice president of the Medical Career Club and vice president of the California Scholastic Federation. He has a 5.2 grade-point average, attained via his high performance in honors and advance-placement classes. …
JSerra sophomore Alden Morales has the best time in the nation in the 800 at 1:49.51 that he ran on Feb. 17. This past weekend in a meet at JSerra he finished the 1600 in 4:10.25, the ninth-best time in the nation. …
Trabuco Hills junior Holly Barker ran the third-best time in Orange County history in the 3,200 meters on Saturday at the Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational at Laguna Beach High, covering the distance in 10 minutes, 18.30 seconds. Jack Horrocks of Foothill, Zach Lewis of Pacifica and Corona del Mar’s Ava Simos won two events each and set meet records each at the meet – Horrocks in the 800 and 1600, Lewis in the shot put and the discus, and Simos in the 100 and 200.