Baseball:

By Brian Baiotto, Sports Editor

There is a universal desire among dedicated high school coaches that put in those long hours for little pay.

And that’s to make a positive and lasting impact on the lives of the hundreds and hundreds of young people they are entrusted to lead.

One of those dedicated coaches was Glendora’s Clint Harwick.

Harwick was the face of Tartans’ baseball program from 1968-1995.

He had a career record of 460-225-9 at GHS.

Harwick’s teams won nine league championships and made postseason appearances in 21 of the 28 years he captained the ship.

Shortly after his run at GHS was over, the baseball program retired his No. 21 jersey.

On Friday, Harwick turns 85, and a number of his former players and peers sent in clips that you can watch at the bottom of this surprise story.

Harwick was a teacher in the Glendora Unified School District for 37 years and spent some time as a lower level baseball and football coach.

Harwick has three kids (Clint, Kelly and Paula) and nine grandchildren.

He married former GHS counselor, Bonnie Waters, and the couple will celebrate their 22nd anniversary in April.

Coach Harwick has filled the role as grandpa to Bonnie’s 14 grandchildren, and in March, the Harwick’s 20th great-grandchild is due to enter this world.

As someone who was lucky enough to start in center and bat leadoff for Harwick in 1987 and 1988, this writer has a lot of fond memories.

For as much success as we enjoyed as a program, however, no one ever put me in my place more times than Clint Harwick.

When I was 17 and 18, he told me things I needed to hear, not always what I wanted to hear.

Harwick stressed winning with class, holding everyone accountable and his practices were detailed to the minute.

You couldn’t half-ass it on his watch, or that familiar voice was just a couple of seconds away from redirecting our focus.

One of his famous quotes was, “I want results, not alibies.”

Glendora kids were seen as well-to-do and entitled, and whether that’s true or not, Harwick made sure we didn’t feel that way while he called the shots.

Instead of paying someone to put our fence up as soccer season neared its end, he’d summon the entire team to school early on a Saturday morning to put it up ourselves.

It taught us to work together, and it gave us a sense of ownership, like we had a part in why the field looked so pristine.

When it came to team bonding, it was always fun to make the summer trip to Las Vegas and play against teams from Nevada and elsewhere.

Back then, we didn’t have email, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, so Coach Harwick had to make phone calls and write letters on behalf of his players in the hopes of helping them continue their careers at the next level.

Harwick has watched a number of his players reach the major league level, and none more significant than Aaron Rowand.

Rowand played a starring role in World Series titles with both the White Sox and the Giants.

I am thrilled to pass along the news that Bonnie and Clint Harwick are happy, healthy and active in South Orange County.

During this past 2022 baseball season, I asked Harwick at a Glendora home game if he’d ever want this writer to do a feature on his remarkable career, and with all humility and appreciation for asking, he said he wouldn’t be interested.

It is out of respect for Mr. Harwick that I will keep this feature far shorter than most stories I write.

But I’d like to finish strong.

The fortieth President of the United States once described the U.S. Marine Corps this way: “some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in this world. The Marines don’t have that problem.”

That very same adage fits well when thinking about the contributions that Clint Harwick made locally on the lives of GHS baseball players for nearly three decades, and the proof is directly below.

We might not have liked being called out in front of our teammates, but all these years later, we understand and appreciate that tough love.

Happy Birthday, Coach!