Olson throws good game with clinic
Deepa Bharath
“Is baseball cool?” the little boy asked former Dodgers pitcher
Gregg Olson.
Olson, well over 6 feet, looked down at the boy who sat on the
grass of Vanguard University’s softball field and smiled.
“Yeah, it is,” he replied without a moment of hesitation.
The celebrity Newport Beach resident was the star attraction at a
baseball clinic run by Vanguard’s team members and head coach
Saturday for the benefit of 50 children from Costa Mesa’s Westside.
The opportunity was created by a network of local churches.
Hands were up in the air even before the 36-year-old former pro
could open his mouth to address the lively group.
“Who did you play for?”
“Have you faced Barry Bonds?”
“What about Sammy Sosa?”
“What’s the hardest you threw?”
“How much did you get paid?”
Well, some of the questions were tougher than the mean curve balls
Olson once threw. But he answered most of them with a smile and let
out a tiny laugh as he shyly dodged the “money” question.
Before Olson’s grand entrance, Vanguard University baseball team
members with head coach Kevin Kasper played with the kids for several
hours, talking with them and giving them pointers on improving their
game.
Luis Saldivar plays baseball in the park with his friends, but
Saturday’s experience was new to him.
“They taught me how to catch good and hit the ball good,” said the
12-year-old, who says he wants to be a doctor and a ball player some
day.
“I wasn’t moving right when I hit the ball,” he said.
Lorena Vargas, 10, had fun “playing with the guys,” she said
casting an adoring glance at the uniformed team members.
“I had a lot of fun,” she said, laughing. “I learned how to throw
the ball.”
Crissy Brooks, director of the Shalimar Teen Center, said she was
happy to see the positive interaction between the players and the
kids.
“By lunch time they were best buds,” she said. “The kids were
jumping all over them.”
This is the first baseball clinic the university has ever
participated in, Kasper said.
“I really feel like we’ve been blessed with a lot here at the
university,” he said. “And only two streets away we have people
who’re not as blessed. This is an opportunity for us reach out and
help and give a little of ourselves.”
* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be
reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.
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