All about fun as Play Ball Weekend wraps up

Fun.

That was the only way to describe what just happened throughout Major League Baseball during the inaugural Play Ball Weekend. Whether you are a child or one at heart, there is a good chance you just heard that word or used it yourself. It is the whole point of the Play Ball initiative, after all, to make it fun for kids everywhere to participate in casual and formal baseball and softball activities.

“I think at this age, it’s just trying to have fun,” Orioles closer Zach Britton said this weekend after teaching kids to step and throw at one of the widespread Play Ball clinics by clubs. “You can’t overcoach or make it harder than it already is. … We’re just trying to spread the love of the game through baseball. We want kids to enjoy it so hopefully they one day follow in our footsteps a little bit, but it’s just having fun out here with the kids.”

“All these guys are just out here having fun. It allows you to think back to the times of being with your dad or being around all your friends, going out and playing baseball — having fun,” Phillies pitcher Colton Murray said after he and teammate Emmanuel Burriss helped 100 kids ages 7-14 at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in Philadelphia.

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“I think I had more fun than some of them did. I think the message here is to encourage kids to get outside and be active,” Dodgers infielder Justin Turner added after teaming up with Yasiel Puig to pitch plastic balls to kids at perhaps the most unique setting of the whole weekend — in the sand just 20 yards from the surf on Venice Beach.

Fun.

Play Ball Weekend was not only MLB’s largest effort to date in reaching out to youth, but it also was a symbolic recognition of what all 30 MLB clubs do year-round to support the growth of youth baseball and softball in their respective communities and beyond.

Major League players, coaches and managers wore Play Ball T-shirts during batting practice and Play Ball patches on their uniforms. MLB handed out more than 320,000 plastic bat and ball sets and dished out a massive number of free game tickets. Clubs added their own unique touches to the overall MLB program, and teams that were away over the weekend will designate an upcoming date to schedule their own similar Play Ball activities.

“Play Ball Weekend is a unified demonstration of the National Pastime’s commitment to engaging youth in all facets of our game,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “This special program is an elevated step of the Play Ball initiative, which has been a tremendous vehicle to strengthen the ties with young people all across the United States and Canada.”

At Yankee Stadium on Sunday, 1,000 youth baseball and softball players between the ages of 6-14 paraded around the warning track and were surprised by Alex Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Aroldis Chapman and Michael Pineda for photos. The softball team from MS 22 middle school in the Bronx joined the Yankees as they took the field prior to the game, …

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