Northwood’s Little League Fever Spreads Across County
Be careful if you drive through the Northwood section of Irvine, because there’s something in the air.
Baseball fever, the Little League variety, has infected this happy village of neatly trimmed yards, riding trails and tall eucalyptus trees on the city’s north side.
It has also spread beyond the city limits as the tale of how 14 Irvine boys have moved within one game of winning the Little League World Series is told and retold by gas station attendants, corporate executives and Little League stars of yesteryear.
In Huntington Beach, Dave Martin, a member of the last Orange County Little League team to reach the annual world series tournament in Williamsport, Pa., said the success of the Northwood team “has sparked a ton of memories. . . . We lost in the semifinals that year (1968).
“But Northwood,” he said, “is going to do what we couldn’t--win!”
Not far away in Tustin, gas station attendant, Don Wilson, said: “What a story. It’s in all the papers and all my customers are talking about today.”
In Michigan, Irvine Co. chairman and principle owner Donald Bren decided Friday to fly his private Lear jet to Williamsport to take in the game with Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth. Bren was in Michigan attending a trial involving his company.
‘A Magical Experience’
And in Mesa, Ariz., Darell Garretson, who coached the 1968 Garden Grove team and is now a referee with the National Basketball Assn., said that watching the Northwood team win twice this week to qualify for today’s championship game “was thrilling. . . . It’s a magical experience for a 12-year-old to play before 20,000 people.”
Little League officials expect at least that many people will crowd into the historic, horseshoe-shaped stadium in Williamsport for the championship contest with Hua Lian, Taiwan, which reached the finals Friday by shutting out a team from the Dominican Republic, 4-0.
The game, beginning at 1 p.m. (PDT), is being carried live on the East Coast on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” which is taped-delayed and shown at 4 p.m. in Southern California on KABC Channel 7. Northwood will be trying to become the first U.S. team to win the series since Kirkland, Wash., defeated Chia-Yi-Hsien, Taiwan, 6-0, in 1982.
When asked about Northwood, Martin recalled his own “glory days” on the Little League field in 1968: His team from the Bolsa League in Garden Grove was in the race for the world title, then lost to Japan, 3-0, in the semifinals.
“If there is one thing I could do over in my life, just one thing, I’d like to go back and win that game,” Martin said Friday.
“We were the better team,” he said as he clipped hair at his Huntington beach salon. “I know it in my heart, . . . but we did not get the breaks. Let’s hope Northwood does.”
This week Martin drove past the Little League field in Fountain Valley where he used to play. “It brought so many memories. . . . We used to practice until you couldn’t see because it was so dark. And across the street, in that tract was where we all grew up. Gosh, those were good times.”
Charlie Phillips, the star pitcher of the 1968 team who now teaches at Santa Ana High School and coaches baseball at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, said the players never felt the pressure in the World Series tournament:
“It was the parents. They were the basket cases, pacing around like it was the most important thing in the world. To us, it was just a lot of fun.”
Garretson, the coach of the 1968 team, predicted that Northwood players would be “more excited than nervous” come game time today. “Sure, they probably won’t sleep much the night before, but they’ll be ready. . . . It’s the parents I worry about.”
Nowhere has the excitement taken root as in the team’s hometown, particularly in Irvine’s Northwood neighborhood. Tucked between the Santa Ana Freeway and the foothills, Northwood--a mixture of tract homes, parks and shopping centers--has taken immense pride in its team.
“This has been extra special for us because Northwood always plays second fiddle to the rest of Irvine,” said Bill Brosnan, owner of Northwood Pizza, the team’s unofficial headquarters, where players and their parents gathered after team victories. “For 6 1/2 years I’ve had to answer the question, ‘Where’s Northwood?’ Now, everybody knows. “
At Danber Drugs in Northwood, pharmacist Marc Horwitz said some of the player’s parents are regulars in his store.
“We’re pretty darn proud of those boys,” Horwitz said, flashing a broad smile as he filled a prescription.
‘We’re on a Roll’
When asked whether “the boys” would win today, he leaned across the counter and predicted with a wink, “You bet! We’re on a roll.”
Even Matt Bowman, 10, an Irvine Little Leaguer himself, was confident about Northwood’s chances. “They’re hot, real hot,” he said between blowing bubbles while sitting on a park bench. As he slowly worked his gum, he analyzed the situation:
“They’ve got the pitching to do it. They’ve just got to get some hits.”
Win or lose, the all-star team of 11- and 12-year-olds has already been a big hit in a city where little happens without months of planning. But in six weeks, the team has won 17 straight games to reach the “ultimate game” to decide the best Little League team in the world.
“No matter what happens we are the best in the U.S.A.,” said Bill Beebe of Mission Viejo, the administrator of Little League District 55, which stretches from Irvine to San Clemente. “But it would be nice to be world champs.”
By phone from Williamsport, Beebe said that the Northwood players spent Friday watching the Taiwan-Dominican Republic game and then relaxing around the pool. Following Thursday’s 8-1 win over an Indiana team to reach the championship game, Beebe said the team adopted a new motto: “Northwood: Catch the Wave”
A 17-year veteran of Little League, Beebe said Northwood’s season has been a personal highlight.
“Next to marrying my wife and having my daughter,” Beebe said, “being here in Williamsport this week is the biggest thrill of my life.”
It will undoubtedly make Irvine’s city highlight film, too. On Friday, city fathers huddled to discuss ways to honor the Northwood team that has brought their city world exposure. Assistant City Manager Paul Brady said some sort of welcome-home party is in the works, but details of the event won’t be determined until Monday at the earliest.
Brady said, “Those boys have certainly become the talk of the town.”
Not quite.
Cheri Neibell, who recently moved to Irvine and was lunching with a friend at Northwood Plaza Friday, said she had not heard about the team until a woman stopped her in a supermarket.
“I hope they win,” she said, “but honestly, I think I’d be a lot more excited if I was a mother with a young son. I’m single.”