Jim Delzell passes away at 50

GLENDALE — Longtime former Hoover High baseball Coach Jim Delzell, who had just stepped down from his position less than a year ago, died in his sleep Saturday morning at the age of 50.

Paramedics responded to a call from his wife, Karen, at the Delzells’ Tujunga residence, where he was pronounced dead at 6:45 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Dept. of Coroner’s office. A cause of death has yet to been determined.

“Nobody saw this coming,” said Troy Jemjemian, who played at Hoover under Delzell and then coached with him for three seasons, as well. “He’s probably one of the greatest people I’ve ever met. He was a mentor to me when I was a player and he was a mentor to me as a coach.”

Delzell had coached Hoover for 15 seasons until stepping down after the 2008 campaign. He had also coached as an assistant three prior years in the program and was an assistant football coach. Despite leaving his baseball post, he had remained at Hoover as a physical education teacher.

“All the students loved him,” said Hoover Athletic Director Jack Van Patten, a longtime colleague and friend of Delzell’s. “He could always tell good stories.

“I’ve known him for a long time, after a certain point, you lose count of the years. ...He was a friend.”

Van Patten added that grief counseling for students will be available at Hoover when school resumes today.

Hoover’s baseball team will resume play with a Pacific League game on Tuesday at Muir and it’s likely the Tornadoes will do so with heavy hearts. Many of the current baseball players were coached by Delzell and his son Tyler, a junior, is on the team.

Delzell’s close relationships and ability to identify with his players were a hallmark of his coaching tenure.

“He was like a second father for all of us,” Jemjemian said.

One of the many players Delzell coached was Tito Cruz, his successor as the current Tornadoes coach.

“It’s just crazy, [especially] after just seeing him [Friday],” said Cruz, who played for two seasons at Hoover before moving on to Long Beach State and eventually returning for a season to assist Delzell before being hired as the head coach last summer. “Delzell made [playing baseball at Hoover] a lot of fun.

“I think the kids made him feel young at heart.

“It was easy for him to relate with the kids.”

For Cruz, it’s the continuation of an unimaginable season of heartache, as Delzell’s passing follows the death of Tornadoes assistant coach Brandon Villalobos, who died in a dune buggy accident on April 11.

“I couldn’t see this season getting any worse,” Cruz said. “I’m still trying to get over the death of my friend and now this.”

Ralph Tapia, the president of Connie Mack Baseball who had known Delzell for seven years, heard the tragic news, like many, early Saturday morning.

After hearing his son Jason, who was a senior ballplayer during Delzell’s final season, “mumble something” about receiving news of his former coach’s death, Ralph Tapia got a call from Bill Sterling, a Hoover High assistant principal.

“Thirty seconds later, I got a call, it wasn’t until I heard it from him that I believed it,” Tapia said. “I was in denial. I didn’t want to believe it.”

Jemjemian was one of many former players, friends and family that gathered at the Delzell household on Saturday.

“This is a huge loss for the community, Delzell’s an icon,” Tapia said. “A lot of people are hurting big time. It had to deal with him being a human being, connecting at the personal level.

“He was funny, he was personable. He had a connection with the kids.”

Delzell resigned last season, citing that he was worn down, but said he would seriously look at a return to coaching in the future. He had undergone 11 surgeries up to that point and, since October, had gone through two more, including his eighth on his left shoulder. Many of them were results of his days playing football and baseball, he had said. While none of that is currently thought to have played a part in his death, the coroner’s office did say he had a history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

A cause of death is likely to be determined on Monday, according to a coroner’s official, who added, “Everything looks to be natural.”

Delzell is survived by his wife Karen and four children: His son Layton, his daughter Cassidy, his youngest son Tyler and his youngest daughter Jenna. No information has been released as it relates to funeral arrangements.