OPENING DAY 1958 — Looking cool—albeit somewhat cramped—in their brand new dugouts, parents and players
watch history being made at the grand opening of the newly formed Rossmoor-Los Alamitos Little League.

LAYB begins 42nd season

February 12, 1999
by LARRY STRAWTHER/Local Sports Youth Baseball Correspondent

With over 900 kids in tow, Los Alamitos Youth Baseball will begin its 42nd season later this month with a full slate of games at the four fields at the Armed Forces Reserve Center.

That's a far cry from the league's first opening day - back in the summer of 1958 - when the Los Alamitos-Rossmoor Little League held its grand opening with ceremonies and two exciting games between the league's four teams. In the league's very first game, the Rossmoor Knights defeated the Walker & Lee Squires 2-0, behind Andy Messersmith's 14 strikeouts.

"We played at the corner of Bradbury and Montecito, where the Rossmoor Townhouses are now " said Terry Messersmith, who was the league's first secretary," and Ross Cortese (the developer of Rossmoor) put up the money for our team's uniforms and he built the fences around the field."

League President Lee Mulligan, ("the one who really got the whole thing going," said Messersmith) introduced the volunteers, thanked the sponsors and read a letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. (Hey, Presidents had more time then, not being distracted by things like impeachments, etc.)

From those four teams of 60 kids the league has grown, matured, evolved, split and reunited so this year's version will have over 900 kids.
Among those youths will be Terry Messersmith's great grandson, Jeff Mauler.

Without a doubt, the Los Al program is one of the most successful and respected in Southern California. Over the years, parents from as far away as Bellflower, Anaheim, and Fountain Valley have been bringing their kids "to the base" to play ball.

But one cannot blame them, considering the success of the league, and the percentage of major league baseball players that have come from this area, especially considering its size. Former and present Major Leaguers like Messersmith (Dodgers, Angels) , Dennis Lamp (Cubs), and Robb Nen (Marlins, Giants), Craig Chamberlain (Royals), Mike Kelly, Glen Pirkl, Greg Harris, and others developed their skills in the Los Al league. However, J.T. Snow (Angels, Yankees, Giants), played most of his Little League ball down in Seal Beach.

"At one point a few years ago," noted Los Al Youth baseball Player Agent Ron Lung (who has been associated with the league since he began coaching his youngest son's team in 1969), "we almost had seven players from the Los Al-Seal Beach area in the Major Leagues. That would have been almost 1% of the major league total coming from an area with a population of about 60,000 - absolutely amazing.”

That very first season culminated in grand style with Andy Messersmith throwing a no-hitter over the second place Tigers to cap a 17-0-1 season for the Knights. The league's first All-Star team then won their first match, with Messersmith getting a 3-2 win over a Lakewood team, but the season ended with Los Al losing its next two games.

After a couple years at the Bradbury and Montecito location the league moved to Rossmoor Park for a few seasons. Some old-timers are quick to point out that the word "park" was a stretch as the field was mainly all dirt with very few trees.

It was in 1963 that the league — now 16 teams strong in a majors and minors leagues—moved to its present location on "the base"—the then U.S. Naval Air Station, Los Alamitos. The Little League was soon sharing its fields with the Los Alamitos Pony League for older youths.

In the winter of 1973, the Little league also decided to switch its affiliation from Little League to PONY Baseball, one of the reasons being, according to Ron Lung, that "Little League allowed 12-year olds to pitch to 9-year olds" while PONY (which stands for Protect Our Nation's Youth) groups youths in two-year divisions.

Well-known Los Al orthodontist Dr. Ray Sugiyama brought his two sons over from Long Beach in the late 1970s. “I found the leagues here were more orderely. Both the parents and coaches seemed to be more concerned with the enjoyment of the sport, and teaching good sportsmanship.”

That switch led to probably the most significant event in the history of the league, the world championship won by the 1983 Bronco National All-Star team, which won 20 games and lost only 2 in a run that carried them through Dana Point, San Diego, Vernal, Utah and St. Joseph, Missouri.

Ironically, that team's toughest competition arguably came from the Los Alamitos Bronco American All-Stars which beat the Los Al team in the second round of a double-elimination tournament at Dana Point. But the Nationals came back to win three straight, including two straight wins in the finals to capture the regional title.

"Amazingly enough," added Lung, "the year before, the National team advanced to the zone finals in San Francisco, but was just edged out in the finals, otherwise Los Al would have had two straight teams advance to the PONY world championship.

Three years later, a Los Al Pony All-Star team team traveled to Japan, and won four of six games. The team, included Ken Gajewski who played a few years later for NCAA champion Oklahoma, and Anthony Napolitano and Darren Sugiyama who made all-conference at Loyola Marymount.
The team played one game in Tokyo Stadium, home of the Tokyo Giants.