A single bouquet of flowers sat on home plate as dozens of Orange Coast College former and current baseball players and coaches, and their family members and friends filed into Wendell Pickens Field on the school’s Costa Mesa campus Sunday.
Under ominous gray skies, with an early afternoon chill in the air, they hugged each other tightly, cried on each others’ shoulders and prayed together as they tried to come to grips with the tragedy that claimed their baseball coach Sunday morning.
John Altobelli, 56, who guided the Pirates to four California community college state championships and racked up more than 700 victories in 27 seasons at Orange Coast, was among the nine victims in the helicopter crash that killed former Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
Tony Altobelli, John’s younger brother and the school’s sports information director, confirmed that John Altobelli’s wife, Keri , and daughter, Alyssa, 13, who played on the Newport Beach-based club basketball team with Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, were also killed in the crash.
“I don’t have any magic words — everyone is going to deal with this differently,” said Nate Johnson, the team’s associate head coach, clutching his wife, Jonai, and fighting back tears as he addressed a group that swelled to about 150.
“If you’re out here and you played for him, or you’re parents, you know: Alto was one of the best men I’ve ever met. If your son played for him, he treated him like a son. If you coached for him, he treated you like a brother. If you worked for him, you were part of his family. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t have the words.”
Johnson, 30, said his heart sank immediately when he heard about the crash. He knew that Altobelli had grown close to Bryant and had flown in Bryant’s helicopter several times. Altobelli told Johnson on Saturday that he would be flying with Bryant again Sunday to their daughters’ basketball tournament at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, which Kobe owned.
“When I heard the news I kind of knew what was going on,” said Johnson, who coached seven years with Altobelli. “I tried calling him about 10 times, hoping he’d pick up. I tried calling his wife. His son [J.J., a scout for the Boston Red Sox] eventually told me it was true.”
Tony Altobelli said he was walking on the Balboa Peninsula when he heard the news that Bryant had died in a helicopter crash. Pirates assistant coach Tim Matz informed Tony about John, Keri and Alyssa.
“He could barely get a word in — he just said, ‘They’re gone,’ ” Tony Altobelli said. “I think I’m still kind of in shock at this point. It hasn’t really sunk in.”
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A Lakers fan sobs at a memorial for Kobe Bryant outside the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans (from left) Alex Fultz, Eddy Rivas and Rene Alfaro gather with others near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center on Sunday after learning of his death. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Martin Yan, 35, of Diamond Bar stands beside of a mural depicting Kobe Bryant on Lebanon Street northeast of Staples Center. Fans are flocking to the area and having photos taken with the mural. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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The investigation continues Tuesday at the crash site in Calabasas where a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others crashed, killing all aboard. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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The pilot was identified by colleagues as Ara Zobayan, 50, of Huntington Beach. (Bernadette McKeever)
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The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter (N72EX) that crashed in Calabasas. (Geraldine Petrovic / Polaris)
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A tribute to Kobe Bryant is projected on the Los Angeles Times building. (Los Angeles Times)
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A couple pay their respects at a memorial at home plate in honor of Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli, who perished with wife Keri, and daughter, Alyssa, in Sunday’s helicopter crash with Kobe Bryant. (Don Leach / Daily Pilot)
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Uziel Colon takes a photo of his wife, Maria Home, and daughter Lena with a mural created to honor Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. The mural is by Art Gozukuchikyan on the side of VEM Exotic Rentals on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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People pay tribute to Kobe Bryant outside the gated community in Newport Coast where his family lives. (Don Leach / Los Angeles Times)
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Kinzo Beachem writes on the cement next to a makeshift memorial for former Lakers player Kobe Bryant at L.A. Live plaza in front of Staples Center. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather outside Staples Center in Los Angeles to mourn the death of Kobe Bryant after news spread that Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among the nine killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Emergency responders cover remains at the site of the helicopter crash that killed nine people including Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna on Sunday in Calabasas. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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From left, Christopher Pena, 33, and his wife Lizbeth, 30, of Pacoima, mourn with Jose Gutierrez, 33, of La Puente, near the site of the Calabasas helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Nancy Fernandez of Van Nuys lights a candle at a memorial for Kobe Bryant at De Anza Park in Calabasas on Sunday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans mourn near Staples Center after learning that Lakers great Kobe Bryant had died. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners huddle at L.A. Live, across from Staples Center, site of the home court of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A woman kneels at the makeshift memorial to Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center in Los Angeles. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A man kisses the ground as Lakers fans gather at a memorial to Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather around a makeshift memorial to Kobe Bryant at L.A. Live on Sunday evening. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Naima Smith, 37, and Swania Hogue, 48, both of Los Angeles, mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant at a vigil in Leimert Park on Sunday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center after learning of the Lakers legend’s death Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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A Lakers fan touches a memorial for Kobe Bryant outside the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather at the corner of Las Virgenes Road and Willow Glen Street in Calabasas near the site of the helicopter crash. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Naima Smith, 37, lays flowers at a makeshift memorial during a vigil for Kobe Bryant in Leimert Park on Sunday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans stand near a memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center on Sunday after learning of his death in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Naima Smith, 37, center, and other fans mourn the death of Kobe Bryant at a vigil in Leimert Park on Sunday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans stand near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center on Sunday after learning of his death in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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A screen at L.A. Live on Sunday displays an image of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant following his death in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center after learning of the Lakers legend’s death Sunday. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center after learning of the Lakers legend’s death Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center after learning of the Lakers legend’s death Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather near a makeshift memorial for Kobe Bryant outside Staples Center after learning of the Lakers legend’s death Sunday. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Bryant Hirshman is hugged by his father, Craig, and mother, Elena, near the helicopter crash site in Calabasas that claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others Sunday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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People gather on Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas near the site of a helicopter crash that claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others Sunday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Amanda Gordon and her husband, Philip, mourn the death of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant near the site of a helicopter crash Calabasas that claimed the lives of the Lakers legend, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others Sunday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Jianing Zhang, right, and his girlfriend Cathy Xiao gather with others near the helicopter crash site in Calabasas that claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others Sunday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Large Kobe Bryant memorial signs are illuminated at L.A. Live as fans Aldo Luna and his son Ethan of Pomona gather with others paying their respects outside Staples Center. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Lakers fans mourn the death of Kobe Bryant at a makeshift memorial. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans post sticky notes paying tribute to Kobe Bryant on a mural of the former NBA superstar outside Shoe Palace on Melrose Avenue in L.A. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather at a makeshift memorial outside Staples Center to mourn Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans gather outside Staples Center at a makeshift memorial to Kobe Bryant. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Kobe Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 Lakers jerseys hang in the rafters at Staples Center during preparations for the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Tony Altobelli, 49, is the youngest of seven children. He said he had just spoken to John, the sixth-eldest child in the family, on Saturday, when he stopped by a Pirates’ intrasquad game in preparation for Tuesday’s season opener against Chula Vista Southwestern.
“He was talking to the parents beforehand, and he introduced me as the best SID in the state, which was nice to hear,” Tony Altobelli said. “It’s tough to get a compliment from your brother.”
As large as the Altobelli family is, John had an extended family at Orange Coast, one that included the hundreds of players he coached, his fellow coaches and athletic administrators and campus officials across numerous departments.
At one point Sunday, a Costa Mesa Fire Dept. truck drove past the field, and on the truck’s loudspeaker a firefighter said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Coach Alto was a friend of ours too. God bless you guys.”
Sophomore first baseman Justin Brodt said the turnout and outpouring of love for Altobelli was a reflection of the coach’s impact.
“He cared about every single player in this program — you’re part of the Pirate family and he meant that,” Brodt said. “You’re not going to remember the games, the strikeouts, the hits, the home runs. You’re going to remember stuff like this, the guys you played with, the guys who coached you, how great of a guy he was.”
The very field Brodt and his fellow teammates stood on was part of Altobelli’s legacy. The coach spearheaded the $2.1-million fund-raising effort to upgrade the facility four years ago, a renovation that included a new artificial playing surface, scoreboard and sound system, batter’s eye, batting cages and bathrooms.
“This park is beautiful because of him,” Orange Coast athletic director Jason Kehler said. “We always joked about the swimming pool we’d get at third base [when it rained]. Then the turf went in, and his favorite thing to say on a rainy day was that we’re the only team in Southern California practicing today.”
Tony Altobelli described his brother as “intense, he demanded perfection, but … he was one of the biggest-hearted guys you could ever meet. At the end of the day, every player knew he was there to support him and love him. He did everything he could to make them successful.”
Altobelli was named national coach of the year by the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2019 and Orange Coast won state titles in 2019, 2015, 2014 and 2009. Yet what brought him the most joy, Johnson said, was seeing his players move on to Division I programs. Approximately 10 Pirates off last year’s state championship team received scholarships to four-year schools.
“He wanted them to move on to their dream school — that’s what drove him,” Johnson said. “He knew this was a steppingstone.”
Johnson said players will meet Monday to decide whether they will play Tuesday’s game. Whenever they return to action, Tony Altobelli implored those players to “do things the right way,” the way his brother would.
“If you’re going to take anything and make it a legacy to my brother, make it that,” Tony Altobelli said. “Be a good person. Be a hard worker. Do the right things, even when nobody is looking. Take care of each other. Take care of your family. And he’ll look down upon you and smile.”
