» If you have been paying attention, you know I’m a Dodger fan. Started pretty much from birth and continues today, even though I live now in a bordering state …
» But I find myself attracted more and more to the Angels. Could it be because they are managed by a former Dodger, Mike Scioscia? I love the style they play, constantly putting pressure on the other team …
» Wouldn’t an I-5 Freeway World Series be great? …
» Speaking of baseball, if you haven’t yet gone to YouTube to watch that dramatic pinch-hit grand slam home run by Manny Ramirez from a few weeks ago, I highly recommend it. You can watch it from nearly every angle of Dodger Stadium, via fans’ cell phones. The reaction in the stands was amazing. After that, go to www.dodgers.com and listen to how the master, Vin Scully, called the play …
» DirecTV had a preview weekend recently that allowed me to watch the live Dodgers’ broadcast of a game from Dodger Stadium with Scully calling the action. There was nothing better in my Southern California days than sitting on my back patio on a Sunday afternoon, listening to his call of a game. “It’s tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime for Dodger baseball.” …
» Chris Casebeer of Casebeer & Co. wrote in regarding last week’s mention of the 1974 UCSB men’s volleyball team and its near-national title run. He wanted to give props, and rightly so, to the 1969 Gaucho team that won the USVBA collegiate title (before the NCAA recognized volleyball as an official sport). “In 1964, I came to UCSB and joined Sigma Pi fraternity and ended up being Dave Shoji’s roommate for four years,” Casebeer writes. “Dave played frosh baseball on a scholarship and I threw the shot putt for Sam Adams. One night, after an intramural volleyball game, I got recruited for the UCSB men’s volleyball team. I ended up getting sporadic playing time my sophomore year, once against the famous Ernie Suwara at UCLA. I started hitting volleyballs at Dave and he responded so well he dropped baseball and started playing volleyball. Over the next three years, we worked ourselves into a selfless, hardworking team. In 1969, (Dave) Shoji, Jon Lee, Tim Bonyge, Tim Clyne, Steve Sterling, Chris Roberts, Burton Crinklaw, Drew Skowrup and myself played on the (national title team).” That talented ’69 team and its national title 40 years ago should not be forgotten …
» Noozhawk reader Robyn Anderson Gaiotti enjoyed walking down memory lane with the 1971 Dos Pueblos High School CIF Southern Section AAA basketball champions. “I still remember that season vividly,” she writes. “It’s one of those things no one can erase from your mind and heart. And it was made even more memorable by the fact that most of those players, (especially the really good ones like (Bruce) Coldren, were such down-to-earth guys. It didn’t matter if you were a goofy, somewhat nerdy kid; they were kind to you in class and appreciated your adoration.” …
» Another Noozhawk fan, Jim Lawson of San Diego, says my comments about Laguna Park and the old Santa Barbara Dodgers “brought back a few memories. Thanks for a nice little nostalgic trip down memory lane this morning.” Lawson was a senior at San Marcos High (Class of 1973) while I was at Dos Pueblos. “I can still remember many days spent at Laguna Park,” he writes. “In fact, one of the things that has managed to stay with me from then to now is my collection of Junior Boosters season pass cards for the Dodgers. The first one I have is badly faded but it’s from 1963, when the team was actually the Rancheros (seems like they may have been a Mets’ farm club?).”
» Lawson says the next season pass card he has is from 1964 when the team had become the Dodgers. “Both of them cost $3 for the whole season, and I had to sign my name below a line that said, “I promise to root for the Dodgers.” He says the last one he has is from 1966, when the cost had gone up to $5 …
» Lawson still has several programs from the games he attended, with biographies of manager Norm Sherry and players who passed through Laguna Park during that era: Wes Parker (my all-time favorite Dodger!), Don Sutton, Willie Crawford, Jim Fairey, Mike Kekich. Lawson says among the memorabilia is an article written by my first boss, the late Phil Patton, on the history of Santa Barbara baseball …
» Thad MacMillan, a Noozhawk reader who lives in Cornelius, Ore., writes to talk about the item I had last week on former Santa Barbara High principal J.R. Richards. “Things really do come in pairs, J.R.’s father, “Jack” Richards, was a very important educator, too. Well liked and the first principal at La Colina Junior High School. Two generations of Santa Barbara educators who made a real difference.” …
» It’s a sad commentary when you have no clue who the host of Saturday Night Live is or why they’ve invited him or her to be on the show …
» In case you missed it, Bishop Garcia Diego High has named Casey Cloud as its new baseball coach. Cloud, a product of Santa Barbara High and UCLA, replaces Brian Moulton, who guided the Cardinals to one league title and two CIF playoff appearances in three seasons at the helm. In addition to playing at SBHS and UCLA, Cloud played for the Santa Barbara Foresters from 1996-97 and was drafted in 1998 by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played three seasons in the Pirates’ farm system before returning to Santa Barbara to join the Foresters’ coaching staff …
— Noozhawk columnist Paul Yarbrough can be reached at pyarbrough@noozhawk.com.