Mr. 500

A salute to Gladstone coach Rich Remkus, who won his 500th game on Wednesday in his 24th season with the Gladiators. The architect of the best looking baseball field in the San Gabriel Valley earned it with a 7-4 victory over Pomona.

"It'll take a while to sink in," Remkus said. "I've always felt for a high school team to win 20 games in a season is sort of a benchmark of excellence and success. If you sit back and think, you have to win 20 games a year for 25 years to get there. The years just go by and you don't realize it. I guess I'm older than I thought.
"I have two regrets today," an emotional Remkus added. "My own son, Tommy, (who is on the team) wasn't able to be here today. He's home with the flu. My other regret is my father (Tom) wasn't here. I just want to acknowledge that he taught me the game. He passed away a couple of years ago. He was always the biggest supporter of our program. He was down here mowing the grass two days before he died.
"For every year of my coaching career he was always behind me doing things, fixing things and always being there. I feel bad he didn't live to see this day. I trust he's watching. I just wanted to publicly dedicate this to him. I am what I am today because of him."

Finally, league races get going today and tomorrow, here's a quick glance at the schedules.

Thursday
Christian League
Aquinas vs. Western Christian at Citrus, 3:45 p.m.
Miramonte League
Diamond Ranch at Bonita, 3:15 p.m.
Wilson at Charter Oak, 3:15 p.m.
San Antonio League
West Covina at Rowland, 3:15 p.m.
Nogales at Walnut, 3:15 p.m.
Nonleague
South Hills at Los Altos, 3:15 p.m.

Friday's games
Mission Valley League
Gabrielino at Rosemead, 3:15 p.m.
Mountain View at South El Monte, 3:15 p.m.
Arroyo at El Monte, 3:15 p.m.
Sierra League
Glendora at Diamond Bar, 3:15 p.m.
Damien at Chino Hills, 3:15 p.m.
Chino at Ayala, 3:15 p.m.
Valle Vista League
Northview at Baldwin Park, 3:15 p.m.
San Dimas at Covina, 3:15 p.m.
Pomona at Ganesha, 3:15 p.m.