The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
CAPTAINS CELEBRATE BASEBALL AT BROADMOOR
Captains Community Service Day proves to be a big hit
It was an afternoon of all things baseball as six members of the Lake County Captains visited Broadmoor School in Mentor for a Captains Community Service Day.
Captains manager Larry Day, along with outfielder Mitch Longo, pitchers Juan Hillman, Brady Aiken and Justin Garza, and left fielder Todd Isaacs spent the afternoon of Aug. 22 with developmentally disabled adults in the Broadening Abilities program of Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood, taking photos, signing autographs and participating in a series of activities.
All Broadmoor clients at the event had large, plastic inflatable bats for the players to sign.
The players then went from room to room in groups of two, meeting the Broadmoor clients and staff and participating in various activities with them, such as making catchers’ mitts, baseball necklaces, baseball cake pops, guessing how many peanuts were in a jar, throwing practice and taking photos with a baseball background.
In addition, baseballthemed music played and Skipper, the Captains’ mascot, posed for photos.
Lisa George, Broadening Abilities manager, expressed the excitement that the staff and students felt about the players and Skipper coming.
“We really prepared for this,” she said. “The staff have all been into the decorating, making the walls come alive with all the baseball memorabilia.”
The clients and staff at Broadmoor weren’t the only ones to benefit from the interactions with the players.
Day, who thought it was nice to take a break from the normal day-to-day routine and get into the community to make people feel good, described the minor leagues as a very selfish situation, with players all trying to do the best they can do to further their careers and he feels they should be doing that.
“But, to be able to get into the real world as often as we can and to be able to be as selfless as we can, even if it’s only for two hours, there is some value to that,” he said.
Day, who described the event and interactions as great, said this is something they would consider doing again, and even possibly on a yearly basis.
The six members of the
Captains all agreed that it was enjoyable to come in and put smiles on the faces of Broadmoor clients and staff.
“It’s a lesson for us to kind of step away from the game and for us to come here and see what it’s all about,” Hillman said.
Aiken described the experience as awesome and a really good thing for them to get out and do something different and spend time with people.
“It’s been a really good day so far, there’s a lot of cool things we got to see and do, so it’s been a fun day,” he said.
His favorite part of the day was watching everyone’s face light up when Skipper walked into the rooms, and signing bats for everyone at Broadmoor.
Garza stated he is 100 percent sure he would do it again.
“It was a good time eating popcorn with the guys and girls, and seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces is what makes us happy about doing this,” he said.
The highlight of the day for all involved was baseball in the gym at the end of the event. With the Captains playing the outfield position and pitching, the clients and staff, along with the players, all gathered to play baseball. The players encouraged and cheered on the clients, who with the help of the staff and players were able to swing the bat and round the bases.