Guy Lemmon, during a break announcing a game this week at the Orange County Great Park, started the Ryan Lemmon Invitational, which is named after his late son, Ryan Lemmon. (Photos: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)
Almost 25 years after his death, Ryan Lemmon’s legacy continues to live on.
This week, his name has been mentioned often during the Ryan Lemmon Invitational, a 24-team high school baseball tournament at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine.
“It’s always been very special to me,” Guy Lemmon said of the events. “As my son said when he was doing some all-star activities, ‘damn, dad these guys are good.’ I’ve always wanted to re-create that experience for as many other players.
“If we can acknowledge the best of the best, I think that’s really good.”
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
Photo courtesy Lemmon family.
Photo courtesy Lemmon family.
Photo courtesy Lemmon family
Ryan Lemmon’s father, Guy Lemmon, founding member of the Ryan Lemmon Foundation, wanted to continue to promote baseball in Orange County after his son’s death.
Ryan Lemmon, a 1993 graduate of Woodbridge, was a promising baseball player with a passion for the game and a zest for life. Lemmon, who had a reputation as a fierce competitor, was an all-CIF and all-county player for the Warriors.
He was also a scholar athlete recipient and played in the Orange County all-star baseball game his senior year, Guy Lemmon said. He attended Pepperdine University but red-shirted his freshman season. He later transferred to Rancho Santiago College.
Ryan Lemmon was going to be the starting center fielder for the Dons in the upcoming season after he transferred. But his life was cut short when he died in a traffic accident Sept. 18, 1994 while returning with friends from a weekend trip to Arizona, according to his father.
Ryan Lemmon had been preparing for the season playing with the Rancho Santiago College team in a fall baseball league and the weekend of the accident, the squad had a bye, his father said.
“He was playing with Rancho in the summer and fall,” Guy Lemmon said. “Rancho ended up winning the state championship that year. Don (Rancho coach Sneddon) was nice enough to invite me into the dugout. I got to connect with all those players. Ryan was scheduled to be the number three hitter and the starting center fielder at the time.”
What turned out to be Ryan Lemmon’s final game, a scrimmage, was one his father will always remember.
“His last hit was hit over the trees into the left field bleachers,” Guy Lemmon said. “It was a big home run. Don said something to him in his at bat before like, ‘Ryan your timing is off a little bit,’ or something like that. He said, ‘see coach, I’m right where I’m supposed to be, my timing is perfect.’ I do remember him going yard and obviously at the time, you don’t think that’s his last at bat.”
In fact Ryan Lemmon often talked about getting a chance to play professional baseball and pursue his dream.
“He and I talked about it and he said, ‘you know dad, I think I’m good enough to able to make a living doing sports and at some point in college, I’ve got to make a decision to focus on one or the other. Some day dad I’ll be like you. Right now I want to see how far I can take athletics,'” Guy Lemmon recalled.
“And it gave me a chill because at the end of the day as a dad, all I really wanted was to see my son have absolute passion about something, and if you want to be good at something and you enjoy it, you have a much better chance of being good.”
Ryan Lemmon was not drafted out of high school but hoped to be drafted after playing a year at Rancho Santiago College, his father said.
The dream continues for many players, however.
After Ryan Lemmon’s death, Guy Lemmon, with the help of board member Dick Owens, tried to lead the way in making baseball a positive experience for many high school players throughout the county with the goal of making it similar to what Ryan Lemmon experienced in his high school days.
A couple years after his death, Lemmon started the Ryan Lemmon Showcase in June and about 15 years ago, the Ryan Lemmon Foundation took over sponsorship of the spring baseball tournament, which operated under different sponsors before that.
This week’s Ryan Lemmon Invitational wraps up Wednesday night with the championship game at 7 p.m. between Yorba Linda and Laguna Beach at the Orange County Great Park Stadium.
RELATED: Laguna Beach wins Ryan Lemmon Invitational
The tournament was moved from Ryan Lemmon Stadium, where it has been held since its inception.
“Our thought was that we need to create a venue and a circumstance and an event that is the best possible for the players and their families,” Lemmon said. “The fact that all 24 teams can be at a singular location makes it more fun We’ve gotten some real positive responses to that.”
Owens, the tournament director, has led the way, assisted by many volunteers who have helped during the four-day event.
“Without Dick, none of this would have happened,” Lemmon said. “Dick is the brains behind the whole thing.”
Guy Lemmon is hands on during the tournament, interacting with baseball players and fans and even doing the public address announcing at times subbing for the tournament’s public address announcer Paul King. He’s also been seen carting umpires around to different venues at the Great Park.
It’s clear that the events and the people involved are special to him.
“The key to that is that the memory is still there, not the memory of the loss,” he said of his son’s death. “I can’t change that, but the memory of all the good years and the good things that have occurred to our family subsequent is what has made it special,” he said.
Soon, planning will begin for the Ryan Lemmon Showcase in June, an event which brings together the all-league players from 10 Orange County Leagues in a four-day event.
The idea for the showcase started after Ryan Lemmon played in an all-star game.
“My son had a very positive experience in the 1993 North-South county game and my own reaction was, that is a very well done event but there ought to be an opportunity for more guys to experience something like that,” he said.
“When I lost my son, that’s what I wanted to give back was to create that positive experience of a nice finish to a high school career. Because at the end of the day, even Mike Trout some day is going to be told he has to give his uniform back. Every athlete, at some point, is told they’ve got to not play anymore and at least at the finish of every kid’s high school career, if they can walk away with a really positive win-win experience, that’s what the showcase is all about.”
This year’s Showcase will also be held at the Great Park Stadium, Guy Lemmon said.
“We’re looking forward to having that having all the all-star guys and the graduating seniors,” he said. “I think the show we can put on there and the playing experience for them will be a little bit better because of the way the dugouts are set up and the sound system. In the end, it’s just a baseball game but we try to make it a show and make it something memorable and I like to think that stadium fits this purpose really well and it’s convenient.”
Two more leagues have been added to the Showcase so there will be 10 teams and about 200 all-stars participating, Lemmon said.
Players and coaches have shown their appreciation to the foundation, Lemmon and Owens over the years.
“Since 1996 Guy and the Ryan Lemmon Foundation have had a huge impact on baseball in Orange County,” said Woodbridge Coach Ryan Brucker. “He has provided the opportunity for literally thousands of student athletes to compete in baseball games from the fall and winter leagues, to the Spring Invitational to the Sophomore and Senior Showcases.
“All of the events are first class and so extremely enjoyable to participate in. What makes Guy truly special is that he does this event for the players, to provide them with an experience in high school baseball that he knows was so special to his son Ryan. He wants to create that same kind of experience for high school athletes today.”
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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