OCC honors catcher

COSTA MESA — It was more about healing than hitting, more about remembering than running and more about perspective than pitching.

In the end, members and supporters of the Orange Coast College baseball program, as well as at least one player on the roster for visiting Saddleback, might have suggested that what Saturday’s Orange Empire Conference baseball game at OCC needed most was the very noteworthy presence it was missing.

Jourdan Watanabe, a 20-year-old redshirt sophomore catcher who died Friday morning, would have been the first to lighten a mood that seemed, at times surreal. The orange No. 22 jersey Watanabe wore while hitting .353 and amassing seven home runs and 40 runs batted in as a first-team all-conference performer in 2008, was draped over a board and propped up at home plate as both teams stood on the baselines for a ceremonial pregame moment of silence.

As both teams peeled off toward their respective dugouts, OCC Coach John Altobelli shook hands with and hugged Saddleback Coach Jack Hodges. Altobelli, who was forced to watch the game from outside the park after having been ejected from Thursday’s loss at Cypress, also shook hands and hugged Saddleback freshman second baseman Sean Parvin, who played baseball with Watanabe in youth leagues and at Northwood High in Irvine.

Parvin, the last player to leave the field following the pregame ceremony, approached Watanabe’s jersey, kissed his fingers, then touched the jersey’s shoulder area. He then struggled with emotion on his way back to the dugout, tugging the collar of his jersey up over his mouth while tears flowed.

Parvin said the game, an 11-2 Saddleback win, was virtually an afterthought to the grief he was feeling over the loss of his friend.

“It’s the hardest day of my life,” said Parvin, who managed to single in the game’s first run, before, he said, being mostly unable to focus on his job the rest of the day. When he pulled into second base after his single, advancing on a throw from the outfield, he again kissed the fingers on both hands, then extended them to the sky while looking upward. It was a gesture obviously directed toward Watanabe.

“We played together in Tee-ball, Pony ball, travel ball and high school ... my whole life,” Parvin said. “After the first inning, I couldn’t do it anymore. I just kept thinking about him. He would have wanted me to play, but it was so hard. After that first inning, I lost it. I couldn’t handle it.”

Parvin, who went hitless in his four remaining at-bats, including two strikeouts, left the game for a pinch-hitter in the top of the ninth inning.

OCC players, many of whom had written or applied 22 decals on their caps and batting helmets, were clearly affected, said Altobelli, who was also among the grieving.

“It affected them, that’s only human,” Altobelli said. “I’m 45 years old and I’m a basket case. I can only imagine being 18, 19 and losing one of your best friends at this age and dealing with death, probably for the first time; then, trying to come out and play baseball like nothing happened.”

OCC sophomore catcher D.J. Arellano, one of Watanabe’s backups in 2008, said the OCC players made the right decision to play after learning of Watanabe’s death at Friday’s practice.

“Not playing probably would have made it worse,” Arellano said.

He said he has lost friends before, and he tried to provide perspective for teammates dealing with such tragedy.

“I’m no one new to losing friends,” Arellano said. “I’ve lost a lot of friends. I tried to show [teammates] my view of it. With me being Jourdan’s backup last year, he pushed me to get better every day. Every hack, every bullpen I caught, I wanted to get better to beat him. I told the team that that’s what he is to me now; he’s going to be my drive. From here on out, because I owe it to him, he’s going to be my work ethic.”

Arellano said Watanabe would have provided more than inspiration had he been alongside teammates in such a difficult situation.

“He was a great guy,” Arellano said. “He would always want to lighten the mood. Whether we lost, 10-0, or won, 10-0, he was always there calling guys’ names, with a big smile on his face. So he is definitely irreplaceable.”

Parvin said Watanabe was known for bringing joy to those around him.

“He was the biggest goofball in the world,” Parvin said. “He would always have fun and he would always put a smile on your face. Even when I was down, he would always pick me up.”

The No. 22 was painted in six-foot-tall white numbers on the left-field fence, just left of the foul pole. And a No. 22 was stenciled in white paint on the grass behind home plate. Several photos and a head portrait of Watanabe were also on display at various spots around the stands.

“I think [Watanabe’s] parents [both of whom attended at least part of the game] were ecstatic about what we did for him,” Altobelli said of the attempts to recognize their late son. “And I think it helps our guys with some closure, too.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].