Baseball. You can’t help but love the game and everything about it. It’s nine innings of pure competition, camaraderie and tradition. Opening Day marks new beginnings as baseball season is awakened by the first pitch, the crack of the bat and fans singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch. It’s a game of passion. It’s America’s game.
From major league to minor league, to little league, one thing remains constant – nine players take to the field and become one, trying to achieve the only thing on their minds – a victory. And victory is sweet.
But there’s nothing sweeter than seeing teammates help and support each other off the field. It’s at that moment you realize that it’s more than just a game.
On Saturday, April 18, the Hart Mustang American Giants were scheduled to play the Rays and battle it out on the diamond. Just a few weeks prior to the game, the Giants were notified that one of their players, Michael “Mikey” McCarthy would be missing a ballgame due to his participation in the Great Strides Walk to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Mikey’s 13-year-old sister Katie suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and was diagnosed at the age of two with the disease.
The Giants coaching staff decided immediately that they would support Mikey and his family at the walk – even if it meant forfeiting the game. “All season, we stress being team players, and this reflects the ‘team spirit’ and it also teaches us all a life lesson that sometimes there are more important things in life than a ballgame,” states Damian Elgin, Giants manager. The Giants coaching staff sent out numerous emails to the league director, commissioner and opposing manager requesting their game to be rescheduled.
Within the hour, the Hart administration showed their support and rescheduled the game so the team could support “Team Katie Bug” and Katie’s quest to raise money and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. “We were speechless when we found out what the team was doing for us,” states parents Mike and Sue McCarthy. “Seeing everyone support Team Katie Bug was overwhelming, and it really meant a lot to the McCarthy family.”
But the support didn’t stop with the Giants. Mikey’s Traveling Club Team, the Santa Clarita River Cats, decided to support the walk as well. “We are a full supporter of the event,” states Manager Allen Hodge, “it is a very worthy cause and we want to do whatever we can to help in the search for a cure.”
On the morning of April 18, fifteen players suited up, along with coaches, friends and family, to show their support and truly define the meaning of what it means to be a team player. As they walked around the Westfield Valencia Town Center, I thought to myself, “It really is more than just a game.”
For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit www.cff.org .