Baltimore message: ‘ Keep playing’

A couple of blocks south of where 25- year- old Freddie Gray was arrested April 12 is the Baltimore police station where he was taken, where the turmoil started.

On the other side of the highway are the train tracks. And beyond that, some small apartments and an elementary school.

Tucked between the homes and the school is a baseball field. Two, actually.

Saturday, those fields served as a symbol of hope for the men, women and children who have seen their city battered, scrutinized and criticized since Gray’s arrest and subsequent death sparked protests and civil unrest leading to a week- long curfew.

It started with a few volunteers setting up tents in the corner of the park. Then a few more began to chalk the base lines. Then the kids started filing in by the dozens, running around and throwing baseballs and wearing uniforms that read “Orioles” or “Yankees” or even Negro league teams such as the Homestead Greys or Kansas City Monarchs.

All of them, plus a few local legends, came together for an event put on by the Major League Baseball Players Association and the James Mosher Baseball League to provide baseball opportunities and promote unity for the community. Among those in attendance were Mayor Stephanie Rawlings- Blake, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark and former Baltimore Orioles Frank Robinson ( a Hall of Famer), Jeffrey Hammonds and Eric Davis. Current Orioles Adam Jones and Delmon Young joined later.

Since 1960, the James Mosher Baseball League has allowed kids between 4 and 18, predominantly African American, to play baseball in West Baltimore. Never had that effort seemed more important than Saturday.

“All of us are aware of the challenges that have been here for a while now, and as I mentioned a little while ago, baseball oftentimes is the respite,” Clark said. “It’s the one thing that brings communities together and affords kids and adults the opportunity to distract themselves from what may have happened during the week or any of the challenges that they may be going through.”

After opening remarks, the Little League teams played games — one kid- pitch, one machine- pitch and two T- ball games in the corners of the park — in front of some 200 people. The former major leaguers gave advice.

After the games, Jones and Young arrived to award the league with equipment, sign autographs and answer questions.

The first question asked of Jones: “How do I get better at the game?”

Jones’ answer: “Just have fun and keep playing.”

Jones, who came to Baltimore from a modest upbringing in San Diego, has not been shy about being a role model. When the Orioles played before an empty Camden Yards, Jones, in a message aimed at young protesters who turned violent, said, “Your frustration is warranted. It’s understandable, understood. The actions I don’t think are acceptable. But this is their cry.”

He affirmed his role as a leader Saturday. “The city so happens to be predominantly African American, so I think it’s just where I fit in, and I’m not going to shy away from the issues if we can attack them,” Jones told reporters.

Robinson, the 1966 American League MVP in the first of his six seasons with the Orioles, seemed optimistic about the prospects for more placid times. “I’m glad that the community, the baseball people and the city ( are) coming together and understand that they have to work together, that it’s not one side or the other that is at fault,” he said. “The main thing is now to ... try to correct it so that it doesn’t happen again.”