{"id":4233,"date":"2010-06-17T15:56:11","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T22:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=4233"},"modified":"2010-06-17T16:36:55","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T23:36:55","slug":"4233","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=4233","title":{"rendered":"The Iron Men of fastpitch softball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Story by Bob Otto\/OttoinFocus<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n(click banner for original news story at OttoinFocus)<\/em><\/p>\n

(On the eve of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153California Classic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d California Classic Schedule we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re paying tribute to two of the Oceanside \/ San Diego area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest fastpitch legends. Brian McNaughton and Ronnie Ortega are no longer with us, but they forever remain in our hearts and memories. And if they were still alive, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d certainly be taking in the action at the Classic.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/em>The late, great Ron Ortega<\/em><\/p>\n

By BOB Otto
\nOriginally written, Nov. 12, 1995<\/p>\n

OCEANSIDE, CA \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Former Baltimore Oriole, Cal Ripken, accomplished an amazing feat on Sept. 6, 1995 when he played in his 2,131st consecutive major league game to pass Lou Gehrig and become baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Iron Man.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

But as remarkable as Ripken\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s record is, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come close to the exploits of two the San Diego area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finest fastpitch softball pitchers.<\/p>\n

Meet Brian McNaughton and Ronnie Ortega. What these two have done on the ball diamond is astounding.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nBrian McNaughton, a true fastpitch warrior and great supporter of the sport.<\/em><\/p>\n

McNaughton, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, started hurling a softball as a 10-year-old. Back then the hourly wage was 90 cents. A newspaper cost 3 cents, and his father was off to fight in World War II.<\/p>\n

As for Ortega, when he got his hands on a softball, FDR was president. It was the early 1940s. Cal Ripkin wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even a gleam yet. You get the idea. These two pitchers have been around for awhile.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

McNaughton and Ortega have pieced together some amazing statistics since their WW II era beginnings. For starters, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve pitched a combined 104 years, spanning (seven) decades. With McNaughton firing his first pitch in 1942, and the then nine-year-old Ortega whipping his inaugural pitch across the plate in 1945.<\/p>\n

Since then, Ortega figures he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s won about 1,200 games, pitched 150 no-hitters, and 80 perfect games.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I used to pitch about 130 games a year,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ortega said.<\/p>\n

And McNaughton calculates that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tossed over 2,800 games.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know my pitching record over the years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In Canada, I averaged 35 to 40 games a year. Since I moved to California in 1969, I pitched more like 70 games a year.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Orgega has pitched in the ASA Nationals, the Mexican National Tournament five times (reaching the championship in 1970), and in the Native American National Tournament in 1970. Ortega also played in the Western Softball Congress and pitched against some of the sport\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all-time greatest teams and pitchers.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was always a thrill to pitch against the Long Beach Nitehawks and the great pitchers like Richie Stevens,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ortega said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen, or pitched against.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In 1951, at the age of 19, McNaughton was named \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rookie of The Year\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the Quebec Province. And the next year, as a member of the Canadian National team, he received honorable mention for pitching the team to second place in the World Tournament \u00e2\u20ac\u201c losing to the Clearwater Bombers in the finals, he said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The shortstop on our team was Ricky Tomlinson,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McNaughton said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was picked up by Clearwater and played about 10 years for them and was elected into the (ASA) Hall of Fame. Ricky was the best player I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever played with.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Having been around for a while, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen some changes in the games from the 1940s into the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc90s.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The big thing that has changed is that pitchers are allowed to do so much more,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ortega said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153like crow hopping and stepping back off the rubber. And the umpires no longer know what a strike is. The attitude of the younger players isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same. If there is something else going on, you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see them for a game or two.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

As for McNaughton, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seen some changes too. Some he likes. Others he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Back in Canada the pitching rubber was 38 feet and you couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t raise your pitching arm over your head,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We used what we called the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfigure eight\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Once the distance went to 40 feet, the pitching style changed to what was called the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwing ding\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, or the windmill of today.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

He added that the player attitude and love of the game isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what it once was.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The men want to play (slowpitch) with the women for the macho reason,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the changes in the game, when spring arrives and their old bones warm up they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ready to play ball. Ortega says he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s retired, except when an emergency arises and his team needs a pitcher.<\/p>\n

But McNaughton has no plans to slowdown. And to ward off the aging process he lifts weights and sticks to a rigid diet \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no meat, no processed sugar, no alcohol, and no caffeine.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I still love to pitch and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not ready to quit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d McNaughton said.<\/p>\n

Words that would make Cal Ripkin proud.<\/p>\n

(Ronnie died from cancer on May 14, 2000. And cancer also claimed Brian, 73, on April 13, 2006. Both men, along with Ronnie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife, Gwen, played big roles in raising money for the American Cancer Society.<\/p>\n

After Ronnie passed away, Brian was instrumental in starting the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ron Ortega Memorial Tournament.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And in four years, the tourney raised over $4,000 for the ACS.<\/p>\n

And if they were still alive, no doubt they would have front row seats at the California Classic telling their innumerable fastpitch war stories, and joke after joke. Ronnie and Brian were two of the finest people I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever known.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAuthor, Bob Otto<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by Bob Otto\/OttoinFocus (click banner for original news story at OttoinFocus) (On the eve of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153California Classic\u00e2\u20ac\u009d California Classic Schedule we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re paying tribute to two of the Oceanside \/ San Diego area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest fastpitch legends. Brian McNaughton and Ronnie Ortega are no longer with us, but they forever remain in our hearts and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}