By Thursday of last week, I was pretty much acclimated to West Coast time in terms of sleep and energy. I was out in Los Angeles for the week for ABF Freight visiting the Pico Rivera terminal. I didn’t have a ton of time before my shift started every day at 8am, so I hustled out of bed each day to either work out or check out some local baseball stuff. Thursday, I hustled out of the hotel and over to Rio Hondo College in Whittier.

Not really knowing much about the school, I took the drive up to the school entrance, made a right, then climbed a steep incline up and up and up to a fitness arena parking lot area overlooking the baseball and softball fields at Rio Hondo College. Rio Hondo College is a 2 year school, according to its bio, which serves the surrounding areas of Whittier, El Monte, Santa Fe Springs, to name a few. It is named after the LA River tributary “Rio Hondo” and it brings to mind actor John Wayne (1953 Classic Western star of “Hondo”) and former Boston Celtic great John “Hondo” Havlicek. What a view looking down from above both fields!

Since it is mid-December, I don’t really expect any of the fields I visit to be open and available for photos. Sometimes I get lucky and a stray gate or fence is open. I do my best to get the best photos I can without breaking in or jumping fences. I’m too old to jump fences and heck, I can barely walk these days let alone jump and land in one piece. So, I took the very steep walk down a serious decline from the parking lot, passed the softball field (which was in full view) down to the Jungle, the Rio Hondo Baseball Field to snag as many photos as I could. Sadly, the gates were all locked and there was no access to the field except for this photo through an open spot in the right field fencing….

In doing some post visit research, I learned that Rio Hondo College has one very famous baseball alum – former Tampa Bay Ray, SF Giant, and more recently Arizona Diamondback Evan Longoria. In reading up on his bio, apparently Longoria attended Rio Hondo College for 1 year after high school (Downey, CA not too far from campus), then went on to have a prolific college career at Long Beach State, then became a 1st round selection in the 2006 MLB draft. I also learned that Julie (Lauren Tewes) from the Love Boat is a Rio Hondo College Alum. 

After striking out in the Jungle for photos, I made my way up the hill and around the softball field to see if I could get a better view of the field. I was successful in that I was able to snag a few photos but the “jungle” of trees and brush were mostly in my shots. Here goes nothin’…

Despite not having a chance to tour the entire field at Rio Hondo College, it was still a really fun experience. The hills around the campus are just incredible for viewing Whittier and surrounding areas. If you like views of the stars, Rio Hondo College has an observatory which I believe it open certain dates to the public. I had a blast walking around where I could to see the Jungle and the softball field at Rio Hondo. It was another beautiful Southern California morning in December, so I really have no complaints. Plus, tough guys like John “Hondo” Wayne and John “Hondo” Havlicek don’t work for the complaint department and probably wouldn’t stand for me complaining about a locked gate to a baseball field in December. So I state with full confidence – An absolutely amazing baseball experience, Rio Hondo!!!