Orange County Sports / Prep Wednesday : A BUMPER CROP : Local Conditions Are Ideal for Impressive Harvests of Baseball Players

After T-Ball, Little League, American Legion, and two, three, maybe even four years of varsity seasoning, they file out of Orange County in staggering numbers.

Young baseball players with major league aspirations and talent to match head off to further Orange County’s reputation as one of the most talent-laden spots in the country. And if they don’t all become big league stars, they do seem to have a presence on community college, college and minor league teams.

The question “Is this a good crop of high school baseball players?” has been replaced by “How good is this group?”

Which, inevitably, leads to the question, “Why does Orange County produce so many top-flight prospects?”

Is it the water?

Gary Carter and Lenny Dykstra of the New York Mets, Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota Twins, Tim Wallach of the Montreal Expos, Mike Witt of the Angels and Greg Mathews of the St. Louis Cardinals are a few current major leaguers who were former county performers.

Thirty-one former county players were on major league rosters when the 1988 spring training season opened.

Orange High School launched the county’s reputation by winning the first Southern Section championship, 8-4, over Long Beach Poly in 1914. Since then, county schools have won 22 titles. Eleven Southern Section players of the year have come from Orange County.

By contrast, South Bay and Long Beach schools each have won 14 championships.

There does not seem to be one overriding factor but many, working together to make the area a gold mine for talent-seekers.

Good weather in Southern California affords players the opportunity to hone their fielding and hitting skills year-round.

Top-notch coaching provides some of the best instruction in the nation.

A large population base in Orange County ensures a deep talent pool.

Tradition and a good deal of star-gazing by younger players keeps the cycle going.

Good youth programs and good facilities at all levels also have an impact.

These factors are the most influential in creating Orange County’s baseball climate, many coaches say.

“It is a result of the good playing fields that are available, the population base and the weather that allows it to happen on a year-round basis,” Augie Garrido, University of Illinois coach, said. “Put it together and you have a unique area.”

Garrido won two National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships and compiled a 701-315-6 record in 15 years at Cal State Fullerton. His teams usually had an Orange County accent to them.

At Illinois, where he is in his first season, Garrido has made signing county players a priority. Jason Moler and Doug Saunders of Esperanza and Larry Sutton of Mater Dei, three of the county’s top high school players, have made oral commitments to attend the Big Ten school.

“A lot of colleges would love to have guys from our area,” Don Sneddon, Rancho Santiago College coach, said. “There’s no question it’s the No. 1 spot in the country. If you ask any collegiate coach around where they would like to find a kid, most would love to get a kid from Orange County.”

Mathews, who attended Savanna High, Rancho Santiago and Cal State Fullerton, certainly made an impact pitching for the Cardinals last season. Mathews, who graduated from Savanna in 1980, started Game 4 of the World Series last season for the Cardinals.

“It’s a California life style,” Mathews said. “You play baseball or you go surfing. It’s like they breed baseball players out there. You really have a lot of opportunities to play.”

Bill Bavasi, the Angels’ director of minor league operations, said, “It’s similar to Arizona and Florida. There is a lot of baseball being played. And a lot more people are playing.”

Tampa, Fla., is another area that churns out baseball players.

Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets; Steve Garvey, the former Dodger and San Diego Padre, and Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox are from Tampa.

“Garvey, (the Detroit Tigers’ Mike) Heath, (the Montreal Expos’ Floyd) Youmans, Dwight, all these guys played in the youth leagues here,” Billy Reed, Hillsborough High School coach, said. “I was involved in the eagues. These kids grew up with me. We’ve had a long association.”

Weather and year-round programs have much to do with producing fine players, but Dennis Denning says you don’t necessarily need either to be successful.

Denning, the coach at Cretin High School in St. Paul, Minn., said: “To say we don’t have quality players up here is wrong. How did we have (the New York Yankees’ Dave) Winfield and (the Milwaukee Brewers’ Paul) Molitor up here? You just are dealing with more numbers out there (in Orange County).”

The population of the Twin Cities metropolitan area is 650,000, as opposed to about 2 million in Orange County.

The high temperature for the Twin Cities on March 14, the day Cretin began practice, was 25.

Back in Orange County--where the high in Santa Ana on March 14 was 79--Ray Moore, Loara coach, says coaching is the difference.

“The quality of coaching has improved, not to blow our own horn,” Moore said. “But there are some really fine high school coaches, and they’re teaching things that we never taught 10 years ago. The technical aspects of the game, things that players never used to pick up until junior college and college.

“Almost all the (county) coaches, for the most part, are very intense and are looking for little edges to win. This carries over to the kids. All these guys are excited and enthusiastic. They’re not sitting back, relaxing and letting it all happen by itself.”

Said Hi Lavalle, Canyon coach: “I think it has to do with the competition level. There are so many good teams compacted in a small area. You try to expose to (the players) the ideas that we learn from clinics. You’re struggling to stay competitive. If you don’t have the drive, you fall by the wayside.”

Steve Gullotti, El Dorado coach, agrees.

“If you can be successful in Orange County, you’re doing something very well.”

Continuity in some high school programs also helps.

“If you look at the better programs around Orange County, the coaches have been around awhile,” Bob Ickes, Mater Dei coach, said.

Ickes has been at Mater Dei 17 years, 14 as the Monarchs’ coach. Lavalle has been at Canyon for 16 years. Mater Dei is ranked No. 1 and Canyon is No. 9 in this week’s Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll.

“The coaches who have been around 8 to 10 years really have established good programs,” Gullotti said. “It takes awhile to get a program going.”

Once a program finds success, it starts to build a talent pool in the community.

“I don’t think there is any question about that--it’s true,” Garrido said. “When I got (to Fullerton) 15 years ago, it was a leadership area, providing as many prospects as any one area in the country. It’s just gotten stronger and stronger.”

Adds Lavalle: “Tradition has a lot to do with it. The kids expect to perform up to the level of the people they’ve admired.”

The Cardinals’ Mathews knows first-hand that the competition among Orange County players is fierce.

“(The high level of competition) weeds out the average players,” Mathews said. “Some players can’t compete at that level. I wasn’t all that gifted, but I worked hard. I had to work hard just to stay afloat.”

Some point to the strong youth programs county-wide as the place where success at the high school level first takes hold.

Last August, the Northwood Little League team from Irvine captured national attention by advancing to the championship game of the Little League World Series.

“I think the biggest factor is the emphasis put on it from age 8 on up,” Garrido said. “The kids start getting involved in T-Ball. (The youth programs) are well-managed. There’s good administration. There are a lot of adults involved.”

Adds Gullotti: “I think if you look at the community as a whole, it’s upper middle-class, upwardly mobile. People aren’t just satisfied. They want to be the best. The kids grow up with that work ethic. And it’s a real talent-rich area in terms of baseball.”

So they keep coming, emerging from the multitudes, with a boost from exceptional weather, coaching, youth programs and from each other. Each year there seemingly is a diamond-full of new faces waiting to join those who have made it.

THE MAJOR LEAGUE CONNECTION Don Aase (Orioles) RHP, Savanna High

Paul Abbott (Twins) RHP, Sunny Hills High

Don August (Brewers) RHP, Capistrano Valley High, Chapman College

Billy Bean (Tigers) Outfielder, Santa Ana High

Damon Berryhill (Cubs) Catcher, Laguna Beach High, Orange Coast College

Bert Blyleven (Twins) RHP, Santiago High

Steve Buechele (Rangers) Infielder, Servite High

Gary Carter (Mets) Catcher, Sunny Hills High

Leonard Damian (Cubs) RHP, Canyon High, Santa Ana High

Rob Deer (Brewers) Outfielder, Canyon High

Brian Downing (Angels), DH, Magnolia High, Cypress College

Lenny Dykstra (Mets) Outfielder, Garden Grove High

Kevin Elster (Mets) Infielder, Marina High

John Fishel (Astros) Outfielder, Loara High, CS Fullerton

Tim Flannery (Padres) Infielder, Anaheim High, Chapman College

Greg Harris (Indians) RHP, Los Alamitos High

Jeff Heathcock (Astros) RHP, La Quinta High

Donnie Hill (White Sox) Infielder, Edison High, Orange Coast College

Steve Kiefer (Brewers) Infielder, Garden Grove High

Dave Leiper (Padres) LHP, Lowell High

Greg Mathews (Cardinals) LHP, Savanna, Rancho Santiago College, CS Fullerton

Bobby Meacham (Yankees) Infielder, Mater Dei High

John Moses (Indians) Outfielder, Western High

Dan Petry (Angels) RHP, El Dorado High

Jeff Robinson (Pirates) RHP, Troy High, CS Fullerton

Kevin Romine (Red Sox) Outfield, Fountain Valley High, Orange Coast College

Mike Schooler (Mariners) RHP, Garden Grove, Golden West College, CS Fullerton

Garry Templeton (Padres) Infielder, Santa Ana High

Dan Quisenberry (Royals) RHP, Costa Mesa High, Orange Coast College

Tim Wallach (Expos) Infielder, University High, Saddleback College, CS Fullerton

Mike Witt (Angels) RHP, Servite High

Sources: American League Red Book, National League Green Book, OrangeCounty Sports Hall of Fame. Players listed on 40-man rosters at the start ofspring training.