Baseball coach who died in helicopter crash remembered
Steve Spencer was at Orange Coast College in Orange County on Sunday when the gutwrenching news trickled out about a helicopter crash in Calabasas, 70 miles to the northwest in Los Angeles County.
Spencer is the school’s basketball coach, and one of his assistants told him that Kobe Bryant had died in the crash.
It didn’t take long for Spencer to fear about John Altobelli, the school’s baseball coach, and his family because he knew Altobelli’s daughter, Alyssa, was a friend and teammate of Bryant’s daughter, Gianna.
Soon, Spencer learned the horrifying story: Both fathers and daughters were aboard.
“You’ve got this sickening feeling in your stomach,” Spencer said. “I wandered down to the baseball field, where there was a gathering, and I found out John’s wife was in the helicopter as well. It got worse and worse and worse.”
Spencer, who grew up in San Anselmo and graduated from Drake High School, was an assistant coach at UCLA before spending the past 19 seasons coaching at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.
Altobelli was a highly respected coach at the school for 27 years and won 700plus games and four community college state championships, including last season, after which he was named national coach of the year by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
“Coach Alto” helped many players earn Division I scholarships. The school won its season opener Tuesday, beating visiting Southwestern 81. Altobelli’s assistant, Nate Johnson, has assumed headcoaching duties.
“In his world, he’s kind of like a Kobe Bryant,” Spencer said of Altobelli. “That excellence, that drive, that work ethic.”
Altobelli, 56, and his wife, Keri, 46, were in the helicopter with their 13yearold daughter who played on the same club team as Bryant’s daughter, which was coached by Bryant.
They were on their way to a tournament in Thousand Oaks.
Altobelli had a son, J.J., who’s a Red Sox scout, and another daughter, Alexis.
“John was one of those guys with balance,” said Spencer, noting Altobelli’s wife and children often were at the OCC field, watching and assisting. “The girls and J.J. grew up on the field.
“He put as much effort into his P.E. classes as coaching baseball. Ready with a hand to pick you up, a guy you want to have a beer with. He could be tough as heck on his players, but he’ll do everything he can to help you.”
Spencer, who was an assistant at UCLA under Steve Lavin, also from Drake, before moving to OCC, found himself in a gym with Bryant a couple of times.
One time came after Bryant, then a rookie, shot several airballs in Game 5 of the 1997 Western Conference semifinals as the Lakers were eliminated by Utah.
“The very next morning at 8 o’clock, he was at UCLA,” Spencer said. “That’s the way Coach Alto was. There are a lot of similarities. I’m not saying they’re the same person, but that was a big part of their bond and mutual respect, all about excellence.”