St Mark fundraiser promises home-run family experience
Advance correspondent
BRISTOL BOROUdH - Baseball and celebrity combine for a home-run family experience July 14, when the Phillies play the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Field in Philadelphia. That’s because St. Mark is behind the game, partly as a fundraiser and partly as a way to celebrate two borough natives who made good in the big leagues.
Ok, so they’re not Phillies. So the game could create a mental tug of war for fans. But how often do you get the opportunity to cover all bases by cheering for both teams on the field? Naturally, the Phillies have local allegiance. But there’s nothing wrong with cheering for St. Ann and Bristol High grad Jeff Manto, a bor- ough resident and White Sox batting instructor, or giving it up for St. Mark and Bishop Egan graduate Joe McEwing, Chicago’s third-base coach.
Manto played for several big league teams and once dazzled the sports world while playing for Baltimore by hitting four consecutive home runs in four consecutive at-bats. He’s played for the Yomiuri diants in Japan, then joining the Colorado Rockies. He never forgot his roots, either, because he’s a sports director for the Bristol Borough Century 21 Community Learning Center, an after-school program featuring varied activities, such as sports, music and academics.
Joe McEwing played with the New York Mets from 2000 to 2004. He’s played for the hansas City Royals and the Houston Astros, retiring from baseball in 2008 and began his coach- ing career that same year. He signed on with the Chicago White Sox in 2012.
Father Dennis Mooney, pastor of St. Mark, said that the school and the town can take pride in two of its own taking their place in the spotlight.
“These two are an example of the caliber of students educated in our schools,” he said.
The game starts at 1:25 p.m. and tickets are $35 per person; take a $5 chance to be eligible to win a ticket package with four seats on the First Base Line - a $172 value. Tickets are available at dreat IDs by Anne, Radcliffe and Mulberry streets; the Bristol Borough Tax Office, Pond and Mulberry streets; and at St. Mark Parish office, 1024 Radcliffe Street.
A sellout of available tickets would net St. Mark School $2,000.