Graham offers pearls of wisdom on diamond

Robert Graham knew he was heading back to the diamond 10 years ago.

This time for the former Estancia High and UCLA baseball player, it was to coach one of his two daughters in softball.

But Graham’s second time around the softball circuit was going to be more than just playing games.

Before Graham worked with his new team, a bunch of 7- and 8-year-olds in the Pacific Coast Girls’ Fastpitch Softball league, he gathered the players’ parents.

“I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is 8U softball. It’s not 6U anymore. This is 8U and we’re going to win this year. It’s all about winning,’” Graham said. “I told them, ‘It’s all about 8U girls’ softball in Newport Beach and nothing else. Just kidding. We’re going to have fun, relax ladies.’

“The moms were like, ‘Who is this guy?’ ”

He’s Robert “Chip” Graham, the first to receive the Honorary Service Award from the league that caters to girls ages 5 to 14 in the Newport-Mesa area.

Graham, a 1981 Estancia graduate, downplays his impact on the league. He began coaching his daughter Jackie’s softball team because there were no 6-and-under coaches in 1997.

Gary Tolfa, who Graham considers a friend and a big-time contributor to the league, told Graham one day, “You’re it.”

Ever since being tagged, Graham, 43, a real estate manager, has played a vital role in the league’s development and growth. There are nearly 320 players, an all-time high for a league that president Tim Owen said started in 1997.

Owen is in charge now, but Jennifer Blanchfield, a volunteer mom, still considers Graham one of the league’s leaders.

“Without [Graham], and definitely others, we wouldn’t have a league,” Blanchfield said. “This award was created to acknowledge individuals who have truly gone above and beyond the volunteer duties for an organized sport. Many parents bring snacks, sponsor a team, get a banner made, help coach … [but] Chip Graham has done so much more.”

Of all the roles Graham has filled for the league — coaching nine years, including three all-star teams, serving on the board of directors two years and as president two years — Graham said he most enjoyed working with the players and his daughters.

Jackie, 14, is now playing varsity softball as a freshman at Newport Harbor High.

Caroline, 11, is still in the league, which is certified by Amateur Softball Assn., the sport’s national governing body.

Graham said he really enjoyed the drafts before the season, in which coaches pick their players. He scouted players, then chose them based on a one-through-five ranking.

It didn’t matter to Graham if the player was a star, or a beginner.

“It’s really interesting from the 6U [player pool]. In their first year, they come out and they don’t know the game, they don’t really know where to run, how to hold the ball, so you really get to really teach them,” said Graham, who has two younger brothers, David and Jeff, the latter a former NFL quarterback with the San Diego Chargers.

“It’s amazing how quickly they advance, and one of the rewards is to watch some of your instruction [pay off], and have these girls come back year after year.”

Girls like Brooke Migliori, Morgan Moody and MacKenzie Ludes, and dozens of others, kept returning.

Why? Ludes explains it best.

“He really made softball fun,” said Ludes, 11, adding that she started playing for Graham when she was 8. “We miss him.”

Graham misses his former players, too. He still watches Ludes play, as she is on the same 12-and-under “Dyn-o-mite” team as Caroline.

“This is the first year since 6U that I haven’t coached,” Graham said. “And it’s actually kind of nice to sit on the sideline and be a parent and watch others coach.”

A huge fan is what Graham calls himself now.

The last big fan Graham said the league had was 6-foot-9 future Hall of Fame basketball player Karl Malone four years ago, when he was living in Newport Coast and playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Graham said he can now understand Malone’s antics when he came to watch his kids play at Bonita Creek Park.

“He would have fun with the umpire,” said Graham before going into a story about how Malone reacted to an umpire calling a game tied after it went past the 1 hour, 45 minute time limit. “Karl Malone couldn’t figure it out. He said, ‘A tie? What do you mean a tie? You can’t tie in baseball. Let’s just finish the inning, are you kidding me?’

“It was funny. He was standing up, yelling at the umpire. He needed for someone to win. He didn’t care if it was his girls’ [team], or somebody [else’s]. Someone’s got to win.”

For Graham, winning wasn’t everything.

One year Migliori said Graham guided the “Black Attack” to an unbeaten season in the 10-and-under division. But the success isn’t what has stuck with her two years later.

“Out of my whole life, I learned the most from him,” said Migliori, who’s now 12 and still plays softball. “He was a very funny guy.”

Graham said he made things interesting on the field, as he did during his playing days at Estancia, Orange Coast College and UCLA, because it alleviated the pressure to succeed.

“I’ve been able to win a couple times over the years. I just always had more fun playing and coaching than really taking the winning real serious,” said Graham, adding that he and his wife, Susan, can now enjoy the game together from the stands. “It’s always fun to win, but these kids are only 6, 8 and 10, and you’ve got to remember that sometimes.”