By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune I have to admit I am partial to catchers. They work the hardest during a game, enduring a lot of fatigue and pain, and – at the […]
Hail to the noble backstop!
Please, don’t bump the ump out
By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune Some time shortly after fire was discovered (or invented) I tried my hand at umpiring some girls’ softball games. I didn’t really have a talent for it, […]
Hello, to the new Bolsa Pacific
By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune Back in 1974 when Gerald Ford was president and the Rams still played in the Coliseum, the newest and hottest shopping attraction in Orange County was the […]
It was duck, cover and hope
The bell was loud, sharp and long. It was the “duck and cover” alarm that was used in my elementary school in Garden Grove – and doubtless many other Orange County schools […]
Winning still isn’t everything
All good things, goes the saying, must come to an end. Well, actually, that is good. Searching for a story behind pitch clocks and guessing where Shohei will play next year, followers […]
Rams left; St. L loves football
By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune It’s unlikely that many Rams fans shed a tear when Stan Kroenke brought the team back from Missouri, leaving St. Louis without pro football. After all, didn’t […]
Oh, gee … I remember Gemco!
Are you “OG?” Or perhaps “OGG?” OG is slang for “original gangster,” a term which started on the mean streets of L.A. and which has come to mean “old school” or a […]
Plays precious as a diamond
By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune The young baseball season always brings not just a desire to look forward to what may come, but also a yearning to gaze back at classic moments […]
Time to liberate your garage
If you drive along the typical suburban street in West Orange County, you may see a setting that looks a bit like a used car lot. All along the curbs – especially […]
Sportsmanship takes some hits
By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune In a week in which we should be celebrating athletic excellence and the beginning of a new season of America’s Pastime, much of the sports coverage has […]
