The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Cleveland Legends share good times
First Legends game pleases fans, helps Our Lady of the Wayside
On a breezy night in Avon, some of the biggest names in Cleveland sports got together to play softball and raise money for Our Lady of the Wayside in the first Cleveland Sports Legends Game hosted by the Lake Erie Crushers June 17 at Sprenger Stadium.
The night featured former Browns, Indians and Crushers as well as radio personalities and a few lucky fans who won spots in the starting lineup.
“It’s an honor to be asked to come out here for Our Lady of the Wayside,” former Indians pitcher Len Barker said. “They do such great things in the community. And to come out with the fans and be around them, they’re a big part from when we played professionally.
“Cleveland fans are great fans and we enjoy doing things like this for them.”
Barker is head baseball coach at Notre Dame College, along with former Indians teammate, Joe Charboneau, whom Barker brought on as the Falcons’ hitting coach in 2016.
After getting the call asking him to take part in the event, Barker persuaded his longtime friend to celebrate his birthday with him and the other legends for a little softball.
“It’s great to be back here,” Charboneau, who served as the Crushers hitting coach in 2014, said. “I know some of the fans here . ... It’s fun playing with Len and all the other celebrities. It’s a great way to spend my birthday.”
Most of the legends have been out of the game for years, though, and while hanging out on the field before the game, joked about the toll a slow pitch softball game will take on their bodies and the lengthy recovery time after any athletic event.
“I hope they don’t take it personally that we don’t run very fast anymore,” former Browns defensive tackle Bob Golic said.
“It takes me a year to recover after something like this, so this is the first softball game I’ve played in a long time,” Barker added. “My brain will tell me to go fast, my body is not going to do it.”
“Yeah, your mind says go fast and your body puts on the brakes,” Charboneau joked. “It’s like somebody dipped our bodies in Novacaine now.”
But for the most part, the competitive juices still flow and it’s game on when the athletes take the field.
“Let me tell you something, we are going to have fun, but you know, something that we have, when you’re an athlete, no matter where you are you want to win,” former Indians second baseman Carlos Baerga said.
“I’ll tell you what you give me a chance to tackle someone (and) I’ll knock the crap out of them,” Golic quipped, to which Baerga added: “That’s why we play the game.”
The legends all agreed — the best part of the night was raising money for Our Lady of the Wayside, a group that supports children and adults with developmental disabilities, and interacting with the 1,000-plus fans who came to watch their favorite Cleveland sports stars.
“We’re blessed to have played the game a long time,” Baerga said.
“I was blessed to come up to the big leagues for the Indians when I got traded from San Diego and the fans, they deserve everything from me and that’s why I give everything back to them.”
Bernie Kosar had a different answer, though. When asked if interacting with fans is his favorite part of charity events, the former Browns quarterback joked: “Unless I hit a home run.”