The Colleges / Mike Hiserman : Valley Dodger Boss Swings Trade for Uniform to Be Swapped Later

As operator of an amateur baseball team that is annually and endlessly in debt, Dave Desmond takes deals when he can find them. Often they are under unusual circumstances.

To wit:

Desmond, the general manager of the Valley Dodgers, got a phone call recently from Scoop Nunes, his counterpart with the Santa Maria Indians. Nunes wanted Desmond to release catcher Mike Bible, a former College of the Canyons standout, from a contract he had signed with the Dodgers.

Bible, who had parted with the Dodgers earlier this season by mutual agreement, had expressed interest in playing for Santa Maria.

OK, Desmond replied, on one condition: Bible must first return his Dodgers’ uniform.

This story sounded familiar to Nunes, who was in much the same situation himself with another player--Leo Ramirez, who pitched for Cal State Northridge last season.

“My eyes lit up when he said that,” Desmond said. “Ramirez had shut us down earlier this season and we have a pretty decent offensive attack.”

Nunes said Ramirez was living in the Los Angeles area, so Desmond proposed the following trade: the rights to Bible for the rights to Ramirez.

The deal was struck and Bible is playing for Santa Maria. Ramirez is scheduled to make his first appearance for the Dodgers this weekend during a three-game series in Las Vegas.

And the uniforms? They will be exchanged next Friday in Wichita, Kan. Both the Dodgers and Indians are scheduled that day for first-round games in the National Baseball Congress World Series.

Good reasoning: John Klitsner had built one of the Valley-area’s better City Section baseball programs at Sylmar High. The Spartans were frequent 4-A Division championship contenders and the coach had what he described as “a great baseball facility, great kids and a great teaching schedule.”

All of which he left to become coach at Mission College, a school that’s nickname is the Free Spirit, a school without so much as a permanent campus. Why?

Surprisingly, there are several good reasons. First, Klitsner got a full-time teaching position, which meant a raise. Second, and perhaps just as important, making Mission competitive is the ultimate challenge for a career baseball man.

Mission hasn’t had a winner in any major sport for several years.

“It doesn’t have the greatest reputation,” Klitsner said of the school, “but I see it as a professional step upward. The program isn’t established, but I think in this community there is enough talent to build from. In the past, kids from Sylmar, San Fernando and that area looked down on Mission, but now someone they know will be here working hard to create something we can all be proud of.”

Klitsner already has made his sales pitch to several recruits.

“I’ve got a positive response,” he said. “The kids are listening. I’m honest with them. I’m looking for kids who believe as I do, ones who are willing to take their lumps a little and grow and learn and get better.”

Klitsner, 36, played at Birmingham High and was the Boston Red Sox No. 1 draft choice in 1970. He played in the minor leagues for five seasons as a first baseman and outfielder, advancing as high as the double-A level.

Down under: Bob Burt, Northridge’s football coach, returned from a vacation in Australia this week refreshed from 10 days of sightseeing and fishing, but happy to be back close to his football program.

“I think my phone bill was as big as the hotel bill,” said Burt, who called his assistants constantly for updates. “When you’re so far away, you worry about everything, even whether the grass is being watered.”

Burt and Jim Clausen, a CSUN assistant, went fishing for marlin and sailfish off Cairns, Australia.

“We caught a couple of each, but they were small, about 100 pounds,” Burt said. “They say it’s the time of year. Around October and November, that’s when they get the 1,000-pounders. I said, ‘That’s too bad. I’m a little busy then.’ ”

Northridge’s final regular-season game is Nov. 12 against Southern Utah State at Cedar City, Utah. Burt, who is starting his third season as coach, hopes the Matadors stretch the season a week or two longer by qualifying for the Division II playoffs for the first time since 1967.

Trivia: Burt has won 15 games in his first two seasons at Northridge. Name the only one of CSUN’s six other football coaches who can match that claim. (Answer below).

Solar powered: Bill Kernen has signed his second player since taking over as coach of the Northridge baseball team last month.

Michael Solar, who played shortstop for a Covina High team that advanced to the Southern Section 4-A Division final, signed a letter of intent with CSUN this week. He was taken in the June draft by the Atlanta Braves but did not sign.

Golf ‘n stuff: The Woodland Hills Country Club is the site of the 3rd Annual Ben Graham Golf Tournament scheduled for Wednesday to benefit the Cal State Northridge golf scholarship fund. Shotgun start is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Ben Graham was a member of the CSUN golf team from 1973 to ’78 and a three-time All-American. He was killed in a car accident in 1984. Last year, the tournament raised $7,000.

Trivia answer: Jack Elway, now the coach at Stanford, had an 8-3 record at Northridge in 1976 and 7-3-1 in ’77 before slipping to 5-5 in ’78.

He left CSUN to coach at San Jose State the following season.