RBI program creates bond with baseball for Philly man

PHILADELPHIA — As Ramon Reyes soft-tossed baseballs to participants in MLB’s inaugural Play Ball Weekend on Saturday afternoon, he couldn’t help but reflect on what the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program had done for him.

If a 13-year-old Reyes, fresh off a move to Philadelphia, were told in 14 years he’d be making a comfortable living as a realtor in suburban Pennsylvania, it would have been difficult for him to imagine.

But at 16, everything changed.

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After growing up in the south Bronx projects, where “welfare was the norm … drug dealers were the role models,” as he described it, Reyes and his family moved to the City of Brotherly Love. Three years later, he met Jon Joaquin and joined the Philadelphia chapter of the RBI program.

Joaquin, for the past 16 years, has headed the Phillies’ youth baseball development department. His realm of responsibilities include the RBI program, Play Ball Weekend and other outreach initiatives to help grow interest in the sport among local youth.

“It’s all about opportunity, and I always preach that,” Joaquin said. “If I can provide these kids with an opportunity — on the field or off the field — those are things I think it’s all about.”

Reyes’ friends coaxed him into trying out for the RBI travel team in 2005. Already being a talented catcher, Reyes made the Triple-A squad and got to travel the country. With the RBI program, Reyes took …

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