Did you know that Joe DiMaggio played Baseball on the very ground of the future Orange Coast College? In this old photo from 1944, displayed at the college a few years ago, you can see Joe DiMaggio on the right, second player. He played for the Santa Ana Army Air Base (SAAB) baseball team between 1943 & 1944. , he enlisted in the Army in February 1943 and was stationed at the SAAB until he was transferred to a Hickam base in Hawaii in 1944. He gave up his MLB salary of over $43,000 to earn only $50/month in the Army.
Other amazing photos of Joltin Joe playing at SAAB are posted at Baseball in Wartime - Joe DiMaggio.
What about OCC Baseball? OCC fielded a baseball team in our first year and won the Eastern Conference Championship by defeating Fullerton JC at the Pirate's last game of the year in 1949. That same year, 1949, Joltin Joe’s Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series – maybe it was the Costa Mesa good luck dirt!
Celebrate our 75th Anniversary Baseball game by seeing the OCC Pirates game on Saturday, April 15th at noon at the John Altobelli Park (OCC baseball field).
And if that is not enough baseball, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will host “Orange Coast College Night” on Friday, May 19, against the Minnesota Twins, beginning at 6:38 p.m. Tickets include an Angels and Orange Coast College co-branded hat!
For comments and suggestions: kballinger.r@retiree.cccd.edu