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Play Ball puts imagination back in the game
- Updated: May 11, 2016
CHICAGO — A few blocks away, the Cubs were getting ready to play a doubleheader against the Padres. But the epicenter of Chicago baseball on Wednesday morning was Hawthorne Scholastic Academy, a grade school.
Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg joined Major League Baseball in making the day for the students.
• Play Ball
You could have heard a pin drop in the grade school’s auditorium when Sandberg stepped up to the microphone.
“When I was a kid you guys’ age, I went out in the yard, up against the brick wall or up against the front step, and I threw the ball there and fielded it when it came back,” Sandberg said. “That was just myself playing a game with myself. Then I’d get some friends together, and I didn’t have a field [like the one outside], but we’d play on a field and we copied the Major League players.”
Sandberg wrapped up his talk with simple instructions.
“Get out and play ball,” he said.
• Play Ball Weekend launches in Chicago
Hundreds of children did exactly that. They moved from the auditorium to the school’s artificial turf playground, where USA Baseball and Softball members, as well as MLB senior vice president of youth programs Tony Reagins and his staff, manned stations where the children got to run the bases, play home run derby and catch popups. Each child took home a plastic Wiffle ball bat and ball at the end of the day.
This was the opening event to MLB’s Play Ball Weekend, and the enthusiasm of the kids spoke loudly to its success.
“I want everyone to come to Wrigley and watch baseball, but [also to understand] it’s fun to play,” said Ricketts, whose own children are involved in youth baseball and softball. “I really applaud the Play Ball initiative of Major League Baseball. The Cubs are extremely supportive. We just want to make these young people baseball fans.”
When Commissioner Rob Manfred replaced Bud Selig last year, he made it a priority to increase the number of children …
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