O’Donnell’s Pitch Opens PPBA Season

Baseball Begins with Pancake Breakfast at Field of Dreams

The last time Chris O’Donnell threw out the first pitch to open the Palisades Pony Baseball Association season, he was new to Pacific Palisades and his son Christopher (nicknamed “Chip”) was but five months old. That was back in 2001, shortly after O’Donnell and his wife Caroline moved to town. So when he stepped onto the diamond Saturday morning for an encore performance, he not only had the support of his friends and neighbors, he was also throwing to a familiar target. O’Donnell’s toss whistled over the plate and into the waiting mitt of Chip, now in his first year with the Mustang Cardinals, and with that the 2010 PPBA season had begun. “The difference between nine years ago and now is that I know everybody,” said O’Donnell, who is currently starring as agent ‘G’ Callen in the hit television show “NCIS: Los Angeles.” “That’s what’s so great about the Palisades–the people.” The only pre-pitch drama came when O’Donnell’s younger son Charlie, who plays T-Ball, lost his watermelon-flavored Big Chew, sending dad in search for more. “One disaster averted,” he said upon returning with a fresh pack. O’Donnell said he and his son prepared for their big moment by, what else, watching a baseball movie. “In order to get in the spirit of the season, we watched “Bad News Bears” last night,” he said. “PG then was much different than PG now, but it would be great if Walther Matthau, another Palisadian, could still be here. My son is a Mustang Cardinal so it pains me after being a lifelong Chicago Cubs and White Sox fan to have to wear the Cardinal uniform this year.” After throwing a strike, O’Donnell said, tongue in cheek: “May the best team, the Cardinals, win.” Showing no signs of nervousness, 7-year-old Alexys Ahn got the celebration off to a rousing start by singing the national anthem. Performing before a large audience was nothing new for the second-grader from Calvary Christian School, who sang the Star Spangled Banner at a Los Angeles Clippers basketball game last year at Staples Center. PPBA Commissioner Bob Benton then took the microphone and introduced the five umpires who will work PPBA games this spring: Clyde Seals, Jimmy Truscott, Jack Deluca, Dick Robinson and Ed Williams. Benton claimed over 1600 pancake breakfasts were sold. Team moms Jean Kaplan and Robin Dodson organized the pancake breakfast as they have done for the past five years. “It’s the biggest turnout ever,” Dodson said. “We may run out of food–and for two Jewish women, that’s a big deal.” Quay Hays and his daughter Piper, a seventh-grader at Paul Revere, came because “Pancakes taste better here than anywhere.” The PPBA began in 1952 and the pancake breakfast has become a Palisades tradition just as much as the games themselves. “We’re at 58 years and counting'” Benton said proudly. Saturday’s festivities, however, weren’t just for the young. Emil Wroblicky, 85, and his wife came for breakfast. “I was a coach in 1959 and coached for 15 years. My three sons went through the league. I coached the Cardinals. Mike Martini’s son was a shortstop and Barry Williams (of the Brady Bunch) was the pitcher. We had some good kids and I won a lot of championships.” Recognized for selling the most tickets to the pancake breakfast was Jason Starrels ($870), who won a gift certificate to Benton’s The Sport Shop and an invitation to serve as bat boy for an upcoming Pepperdine game. Also acknowledged were each of the organization heads: Joe Collins of the Cardinals; Mike deSantis of the Cubs; Bob Lutz of the Dodgers; Dave Howard of the Orioles; Pete Seeling of the Phillies; Hugh Dodson of the Red Sox; Bill Holbrow of the Yankees; Todd Cooper of the Tigers and Pony Division Commissioner Dave Kahn. When games got underway shortly after 9 a.m., it didn’t take long before the sound of bat meeting ball reverberated across the park. In the Bronco Division (ages 11-12), the Red Sox beat the Orioles 8-5 and the Yankees topped the Tigers in American League action. In the National League, the Cubs got by the Cardinals 5-1 and the Dodgers edged the Phillies 5-4. In the Mustang Division (ages 9-10), the Red Sox beat the Orioles 7-2 and the Tigers outscored the Yankees 12-11 in the American League openers. The National League began with the Cardinals beating the Cubs 12-5 and the Phillies beating the Dodgers 6-4. Finally, in the Pinto Division (ages 7-8), the Red Sox outlasted the Orioles 15-12 and the Yankees overcame the Tigers 13-8 in the American League. The Cubs out-hit the Cardinals 20-12 and the Phillies downed the Dodgers 12-4 in the National League.