1. John Edward Altobelli was an American college baseball coach who worked for 27 seasons at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California.
18 Facts About John Altobelli
1. 2.
John Altobelli was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 8,1963.
3.
John Altobelli's father, Jim Altobelli, was a professional baseball player.
4.
John Altobelli graduated from Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, California.
5.
John Altobelli enrolled at Golden West College, where he played college baseball for the Golden West Rustlers as an outfielder.
6.
John Altobelli transferred to the University of Houston, where he finished his college baseball career with the Houston Cougars from 1984 to 1985 and was a captain on the baseball team.
7.
In 1984, his junior season, John Altobelli led the Cougars in runs batted in, runs scored, and triples.
8.
John Altobelli shared leads in doubles and stolen bases.
9.
John Altobelli graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1987.
10.
John Altobelli began his coaching career in 1986 as junior varsity coach at Newport Harbor High School.
11.
From 1988 to 1992, John Altobelli was an assistant coach at UC Irvine under Mike Gerakos.
12.
Two months after UC Irvine cut its baseball team for budgetary reasons, John Altobelli became head coach at Orange Coast College in July 1992.
13.
John Altobelli led the Orange Coast Pirates to state championships in 2009,2014,2015, and 2019.
14.
John Altobelli was named National Coach of the Year for the Pacific Association Division by the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2019.
15.
For three summer seasons between 2012 and 2014, John Altobelli served as head coach for the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
16.
John Altobelli died on January 26,2020, when the helicopter he was traveling in crashed in Calabasas, California.
17.
John Altobelli invited Bryant to speak to his baseball team in 2018.
18.
John Altobelli is mentioned in the line " A baseball coach and his family, the pilot died," in the song about the death of Kobe Bryant which is the parody of the Nebraska state anthem Beautiful Nebraska that honors the victims that died in the crash.