Checking Out : Darkness Descends on Gulls, Who Complete Only Summer in Ventura but Not Their Final Home Game

Darkness drove the Gulls out of Ventura County, just as the team’s owners insisted it would. They did not go gentle into the good night, however. The Gulls kicked and screamed as if they are being relocated in Siberia, not San Bernardino.

Their last game at Ventura College, the field without lights, ended Thursday in a rollicking 11-inning, 5-5 tie with the Palm Springs Angels. After 3 hours and 28 minutes, maligned home plate umpire Tony Gayler called the game because of darkness. The contest will be completed today at Palm Springs, where the Gulls close out the season with a four-game series.

The lack of a lighted field is the main reason the Gulls are being sold and moved to San Bernardino, according to Jim Biby, team co-owner and general manager. The owners believe Ventura County has the population and interest to support a minor league franchise, but because most fans are unable to attend day games, the stands were mostly empty all season.

Biby apparently will move with the team and remain as general manager and part owner. He confirmed Thursday that Ken McMullen and Jim Colborn, the part owners of the Gulls who are selling their interests, have received an attractive offer. Biby said the group is waiting until Colborn returns to Ventura County on Sept. 8 from his job as pitching coach in the Chicago Cubs organization to announce the change in ownership. He also confirmed that the new owners wish to relocate in San Bernardino.

Despite a vocal final-game crowd of 528, the Gulls finished last in California League paid attendance. Viewing 71 home games were 38,962 fans--a decent night ‘ s crowd at Dodger Stadium.

The Gulls nearly provided proper dramatics when backup catcher Scott deMarrais hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to give Ventura County a 4-2 lead, but none of five Gull pitchers could close the door.

The Gulls loaded the bases with two out in the 10th, and when the count to Mike Jones ran to 3-0, it appeared they might walk away with a win. Jones thought the next pitch--a called strike--was a ball, however, and when he started toward first base, the runner on second started for third. When Palm Springs catcher Doug Davis threw to second, the runner on third, Eric Yelding, broke for home but was thrown out by shortstop Kent Anderson.

Gull Manager Glenn Ezell and coach Alfredo Ortiz converged on Gayler after the play, and the fans were treated to a first-class Class-A rhubarb. It was the second of the game for Ortiz, who went nose-to-nose with base umpire Pete DeFlesco after a questionable call in the eighth, and finally kicked dirt on his shoes in disgust.

For the few true Gull fans, the last home game was like saying goodby to a dear friend who no one but you understood. A lot of people wondered why you hung out together all summer. Some folks were even cynical. But to listen to the fans, the Gulls were like the quiet kids in school who wore horn-rimmed glasses: You might have liked them if you’d have taken the time to get to know them.

“I’ll definitely miss them,� said Curtis Jenkins, 66, a season-ticket holder who claimed he missed only two games all summer. “It’s a darn shame there aren’t more fans. Even people with tickets didn’t show up. The seat beside mine, the guy has only been to four or five games.�

For Nancy Gregorius, 48, losing the Gulls was like losing two sons. Pitcher Hugh Brinson and outfielder Mike Jones lived at her home during the season. “I thought today how sad it was to be coming to the park for the last time,� she said. “I’ll remember what nice young men Mike and Hugh were. They are true Southern gentlemen. I enjoyed them thoroughly and I’ll probably never see them again.�

The hardy fans are what Biby will recall about his first experience as baseball administrator. “I’ll remember the loyalty of the real fans,� he said. “I just wish there were more of them.�

Most of the players enjoyed their stay in Ventura, but outfielders Darryl Landrum and Luis Reyna, among others, won’t miss playing in Salinas and Fresno if the Blue Jays withdraw from the California League. Landrum, a 21-year-old from Alabama, and Reyna, a 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, said they were the victims of vicious racial slurs by spectators in those cities.

Said Landrum: “I’ve heard it before, but it still stings. I didn’t know California was that way. I pictured mostly big towns before I came and we played in front of rednecks in these little places out in the middle of nowhere.�

Added Reyna, who speaks little English: “I couldn’t understand most of it, but I could tell it wasn’t nice.�

Omar Malave, a 22-year-old native of Venezuela, had a tough time on the field. He began the season the team’s starting third baseman, but his .226 batting average has reduced him to a utility player. Still, Malave, who is in his sixth professional season, considers his stay in Ventura worthwhile.

“I’ve played every position except pitcher and catcher,� Malave said. “I believe it has made me a more valuable player.�

Catcher Greg Myers, 20, had an excellent season at Ventura, batting .295 with 20 home runs and 79 runs batted in. Although he missed Thursday’s game with a bruised thumb, Myers will look back fondly on his Gull days.

“I’ll remember the short right-field porch,� said Myers, gazing at the fence. “I hope I keep moving up. If anything, I proved I can play withstand the beating of catching every day.�

Ezell, like his players, is uncertain about what the future holds. After spending his entire 10-year playing career and eight years as a manager in the minors, Ventura is just another in a long line of bush league cities.

“I liked the beach,� said Ezell, laughing. “I’ll know within a month if Toronto wants to retain me. I’d like them to. I started this year with the best club I’ve ever managed. We finished 19 games over .500 in the first half, which was tremendous. We literally haven’t been the same team the second half.�

After a first half record of 45-26, the Gulls have struggled to a 27-39-1 mark in the second half. Several Gulls, including top pitchers Todd Stottlemyre, Jeff Musselman and Jose Mesa, were promoted during the season to Knoxville of the Double-A Southern League. Ezell realizes, however, that developing players is more important than winning games in the minors.

“I hope our fans understand that we are in the business of developing future Toronto Blue Jays,� Ezell said. “Maybe they’ll see a few of these guys on television someday.�

Three of those in attendance Wednesday were not loyal fans but were representatives of Baseball Commissioner Peter V. Ueberroth’s office. And instead of taking in the ballgame, they took urine samples before the game of 10 players from each team chosen at random. Tony Rogers, one of the representatives, said every minor league team in the country had been tested an average of three times this season.

There will be no team to test in Ventura next season. The Gulls brought professional baseball to the beach city for the first time since 1954. If it is another 32 years before a team returns, the caps, jackets and seat cushions emblazoned with the Gulls’ logo that were given away Wednesday may become collector’s items.