Profile : Ex-Pitcher Goes to Bat for Baseball in the County : Santa Paula native Jim Colborn is garnering support of local civic leaders to create a minor league team.

It was by no means a typical salutation.

“Happy 25th anniversary to Jenny and Jim Colb . . . Colborn.” That was what the man with the microphone said to the 6,000-plus folks squeezed into a baseball stadium in Comstock Park, Mich. “Hey,” he said, upon further consideration, “that’s our manager.”

The guests had come together not to celebrate the silver anniversary of the Ventura County couple, but rather for an equally (although some would say more) special occasion. It was opening day at Old Kent Park, the new home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, a Class A minor league team in the Oakland Athletics organization.

No, that April 12 evening certainly would not be normal for the average husband and wife, but it was routine for the Colborns.

Jenny, Jim and their four children have spent many anniversaries away from home, but not far from home plate at one baseball diamond or another. That’s what happens when life surrounds baseball, as it does for Jim and, as a result, Jenny. The couple married the year Jim signed his first professional contract.

“Am I a baseball fan?” asked Jenny. “It’s what puts the bread on our table. I’d be a baseball fan even if I didn’t want to, because I like to eat.”

For Jim, the commitment is considerably stronger.

From the time that he signed his first contract with the Chicago Cubs 25 years ago to the present, the Santa Paula native has devoted himself to the sport--never mind the 4 1/2-year detour to sell Ventura County real estate.

Colborn, who will be 48 Sunday, pitched in the major leagues until 1978--playing for Chicago, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Seattle--and compiled a record of 83 wins and 88 losses. His best season was with Milwaukee in 1973, when he won 20 games and lost 12. He retired as a player in 1979.

But in 1983, Colborn was back on the field, again with the Cubs organization, but this time as a coach. During a six-year span, Colborn served as minor league pitching coach, pitching instructor and field coordinator. Then in 1990, the Colborn family moved to Japan, where Colborn coached for the Orix Blue Wave for four years.

This is Colborn’s first season with the Whitecaps and his first as a manager at any pro level.

Despite his time on the field and in the dugout, perhaps Colborn’s largest contribution to professional baseball, at least locally, was made in an executive office. In 1986, he took on partial ownership of the Ventura Gulls, a minor league team in the Toronto Blue Jays chain that played its home games at Ventura College.

Things didn’t go well. Attendance wasn’t what it needed to be--the college venue didn’t allow for night games or beer sales and, Colborn said, promotion of the team was not particularly strong--so the Gulls’ first year was also its last. Losses, he said, amounted to about $55,000.

Now, eight years later, and despite the sour experience, Colborn again is pleading the case for a local professional baseball team. This time, he and others are urging the county to build a stadium and bring in another team. But unlike the 1986 venture, the push for baseball is being led by city leaders in Oxnard, Camarillo and Ventura.

Camarillo Mayor Jim Gose, Ventura Councilman Jack Tingstrom and Oxnard Councilman Bedford Pinkard are gathering support on the local level. The Colborns and others united as Fans of Professional Baseball in Ventura County are working on getting the general population involved.

Colborn’s role in the effort isn’t as large as it was when he had the Gulls, but those involved say he has been crucial.

“Jim is a baseball man. He’s been in baseball all of his adult life. And he’s an educated man (Whittier College, University of Edinburgh, Scotland). He’s not just a dumb jock,” said his wife. “Regardless of the failure before, he wouldn’t be anything but a plus to this group.”

Tingstrom said Colborn discussed the possibility of a minor league team with him as the councilman was searching for a project to share with Oxnard.

“When I first started this, I had a meeting with Bedford Pinkard and we discussed what the cities could do together that wouldn’t be controversial,” he said. “Within a few days, coincidentally, Jim called me. He said, ‘Do you think it’s possible to ever have a minor league team here again?’ ”

“I’m sure I provided a catalyst,” Colborn said.

“We get used to living with things like occasional violence, graffiti on the walls, having things stolen. That’s a part of our culture that we sort of accept,” he said. “Japan doesn’t have those things, and one of the reasons is that they have a culture more oriented to the group. American culture is oriented to the individual. I think things that show community togetherness, things families do together, are what we need more than ever. . . . I think baseball can provide that. It’s certainly no cure-all, but it’s a positive step.”

Colborn said a Ventura team could attract an average of around 2,000 people per game.

“If we could bring what they have (in Grand Rapids) back to our area, it would be fantastic,” Colborn said. “There’s Whitecap souvenir stuff everywhere. Everyone’s talking about the team. It’s given the area a real shot in the arm on those dreary spring days.”

Then there’s Colborn’s ulterior motive. “When I think of the ideal situation for me,” he said, “it’s living in my home town and having a job in baseball.”