Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: Sports

GAME FACE: Jerry Bartow, Southwestern College's iconic baseball coach, was all business just before the first pitch of a home game against Imperial Valley College.

"HEY BLUE!": Southwestern College head baseball coach Jerry Bartow is known for his team, trademark whistling techniques and spirited run-ins with umpires.

Whether you know him as "Daddy Dearest," "Lefty," or "Forty," baseball head coach Jerry Bartow has made a name for himself at Southwestern College as one of the most beloved and admired professors of baseball.

Bartow's life can only be summed up in his own words.

"It's been wild," he said.

From the moment of his birth there was nothing ordinary about him.

Bartow, a 74-year-old Native American who hails from the Wyicotty Tribe, was literally born in the Salmon River in Oregon.

His mother, it seems, did not make it to the clinic.

He grew up on the Oregon Coast in a small town called Otis where his father, a fisherman, made a living along the same river where Jerry was born.

As a youngster, Bartow would go out and cut ferns, pick blackberries and - gather - digitalis for heart medicine so he could sell it. At the age of 14 his family faced financial hardships and had to put Bartow up for adoption.

Just like Jerry, his adoptive father was no ordinary man, and destiny played a role.

He was adopted by baseball legend Carl Mays.

Mays pitched for the New York Yankees for 17 years and for 10 year was Babe Ruth's roommate.

"He was a real baseball person," said Bartow. "Won 31 games one year, 214 games in the major league, and never walked a man across home plate."

Bartow played professional baseball with the Salem Senators but returned to school at Washington State University, where he holds records for strikeouts, to earn a master's degree at the encouragement of Mays.

"He was a pretty dominant person (in my life)," said Bartow. "His word was like gold."

Although he has always been dominant in baseball, Bartow participated in all sports as a student at Taft High School. He first lettered in boxing because he could make the weight.

Bartow left Oregon and first arrived in San Diego when he was 28 years old. His first coaching position was at Wilson Jr.. High, then at Hoover High for 13 years.

Bartow was well-known around SWC before he arrived. He used to sell at the concession stands during basketball games, and during one of those games he was told SWC needed a new baseball coach.

33 years later Bartow has become a fixture at SWC.

SWC's ballpark had no dugout, no fences, no scoreboard and a lot of gophers when Bartow stepped onto the scene. He said he once caught 17 gophers in one day.

Now SWC's glittering diamond known as "The Junction" is one of the best kept and most professional fields in San Diego.

"SWC is a hidden gold mine," said a proud Bartow. "We play all over, and it's one of the best fields around."

He has worked tirelessly for 18 years to build his field of dreams. But he said he could not have done it with out Robert Womack and John Wilson.

Bartow holds various fund raisers throughout the year to raise money for the field. He began selling at the concession stands at football games, but now the team also sells Christmas trees, pumpkins and wreaths.

But Bartow can do more than just build fields.

"He's built this program and made it a winning tradition," said first baseman Edgar Molina.

Third baseman Adrian Bringas agreed.

"He taught me how to play baseball, love baseball and have fun," he said. "He's the best manager I've ever played for and he has a lot of heart … I feel like we're his children."

Many of Bartow's baseball players have moved on to play for major league baseball teams, most recently John Jaso a Tampa Bay Rays catching prospect. And there are many others.

"I've had so many of them I can't keep track," he said.

Others have moved on to play at universities and some have become scouts. Tommy Allison is currently a scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks, while Damon Oppenheimer scouts for the Yankees.

Bartow said he cannot do everything by himself and has five great assistants in Jay Martel, Wayne Bradley, Cordell Hipolito, Dave Gonzalez and Kelly Buber.

"I'm blessed to have those five," he said.

Along with his five coaches, Bartow has created an elite baseball team. Just last year the team won the Pacific Coast Conference with a 22-3, record and was a top contender for the state championship. But it lost the big game.

"It took me only 33 years to get to the championship," Bartow said. "San Diego hardly ever has a team there, but we finally slipped through them."

Bartow's reputation for his outstanding baseball team is matched only by his wit. Some of his player's favorite moments include the stories and jokes told before and after games.

"He taught me to take care of my body," said Bringas, "also to have two girlfriends. He (Bartow) said, 'if one leaves you, you have the other one.'"

A favorite is the "Bartow Slide." He would run and slide on the ground, as if scoring a run. He used to do it after a win, but he has not done it in a while.

"If I get down there I don't know if I'd get back up," said Bartow.

Pride and passion go together when it comes to Bartow and baseball.

He is in the Oregon Hall of Fame, the Sports Legend Hall of Fame in San Diego and the SWC Hall of Fame.

In 1956, at Washington State University, Bartow pitched against a heavily favored USC for a berth in the College World Series.

"They were 83-and-something," he said. "I struck out about 11 that day."

At Hoover in 1967, Bartow defeated Crawford High School for his first California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship. He said things are not the way they used to be.

"You had to beat all (35) high schools," said Bartow.

Bartow credits a lot of his success in baseball to one man - Mays.

"He was pretty influential," he said.

When Bartow is not coaching games or selling Christmas trees he goes back to his roots and fishes, sometimes in Alaska where he has former baseball players and friends.

"Baseball is year round," said Bartow. "It keeps you busy."

Despite all the hard work and long hours he said two things keep him at SWC, his colleagues and the athletes.

"It keeps me young," he said.

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