“I’m just so proud of him, so thrilled,” said his mother, Carolyn Colborn, a resident of Santa Paula. “We will be ardent fans of the Dodgers next season,” she added with a laugh. “It’s the ultimate of his career and exciting for the whole family. He always loved to play ball, from the time he was about six years old.”The Santa Paula Rotary Club sponsored his nomination as a Rotary Foundation Fellowship for graduate studies at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland 1968-69. He graduated from Santa Paula High School in 1963, serving as Student Body President. He graduated from Whittier College four years later and did advance studies at the universities of Copenhagen, Denmark, Washington and Edinburgh.Colborn, honored in the Whittier College and Ventura County Sports Halls of Fame, was featured as a third base coach in Kevin Costner’s baseball film, “For the Love of the Game.”When Colborn addressed the Rotary Club in November 1999, he noted “Whatever I’ve done, it’s all grounded with my identity of Santa Paula. . .it will always be my home. A lot of people supported me while I was growing up and they’re still here.”He also told of his days as a rookie player under the legendary hot-tempered Leo Durocher. Colborn said he was urged to speak his mind during a team meeting, but the veteran players, familiar with Durocher’s volatility, kept quiet. Colborn, “Being from Santa Paula and thinking I could conquer the world,” gave his opinion.“You’re like a viper,” Colborn told Durocher. “And Leo laughed and laughed. . . and sent me to the minor leagues!”