Bringing the game to the disadvantaged

Go to a minor league baseball stadium on any given night and you’ll find a few subsets of people in the crowd who, like the players, are there simply out of their love of the game — the gameday staff members who make the operations run and the professional scouts who dot the seats all summer.

In Frederick, where the Orioles’ Carolina League affiliate plays, the intersection of those two groups led to a unique connection for a Hall of Fame scout, John Tumminia, and Bridget McCabe, the Keys’ director of marketing. The two will be part of a group that goes to British Columbia with a charity that Tumminia has built through force of will. Baseball Miracles goes to disadvantaged areas around the world to teach baseball and help build communities with the game.

McCabe spoke recently about the group’s mission and how the future Orioles and the Keys have supported it along the way. You’re taking this trip during the season, so the Keys are obviously supportive. But what about the Orioles organization and the Keys stands out in terms of supporting you and the program?

I’ve gotten some equipment from the players. … We’ve had a few equipment drives here . ... As far as the Keys go, they let me have a 50-50 raffle here for Baseball Miracles, and we’ve done an ad in the Play Bill program. Even just spreading awareness is what we’re looking for. What are you looking forward to most about your trip this week?

I love working with the kids. These kids comes from tough backgrounds. Some of them are extremely poor, and just getting to interact with the kids and see their faces light up when they get a baseball glove for the first time. They get to own it. We leave every kid that we see in the clinic with their own personal glove to keep. So just seeing their faces, that’s my favorite part of all these. And not only do we go and teach them baseball skills, but we also bring baseball culture with us, too. We always have a hot dog lunch, with peanuts and Cracker Jack and Big League Chew and seeds — stuff that these kids have never seen before. … It’s stuff that they remember, because the instructors, the places that we go to, they’ll send us updates. They’ll be out still playing baseball months after we had left. That’s a good feeling, leaving that kind of impact on a place, where you think, “I’m just one person. How can I impact that many people?” For more of the interview, go to baltimoresun.com/orioles.