April 8-14, 2004

city beat

Gale Warning

by Daryl Gale

Angels in the Outfield

It doesn’t happen very often, but every once in a while, a news reporter actually has a chance to make a positive difference in the community. It’s a rare enough occurrence that, when it happens, we usually can’t wait to crow about it and throw out a rotator cuff patting ourselves on the back.

As tempting as that is in this case, and as much as I wish I could take credit for what's happened in the past week, I can't. First, though, the story:

Two weeks ago I wrote a cover story about the Hunting Park Ballers, a youth baseball team newly entered in Major League Baseball's Rookie League and RBI program ("Affirmative Reaction," City Paper, March 25, 2004). RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, an ambitious program started by professional baseball to win back fans in the African-American community, and sponsored by the teams in those cities.

I attended a Ballers practice on Ninth Street near Hunting Park Avenue, and wrote about some of the obstacles these kids are contending with to feel the simple childhood joy of playing neighborhood baseball. When I went, there was only one glove among the 10 kids, so they had to practice with a mini-basketball because it's softer to catch. The catcher's equipment looked like it was left over from Yogi Berra's days in Little League, and the two available batting helmets were cracked and scratched from 100,000 slides into second base. The field itself was strewn with litter and broken glass, and the bleachers smelled like stale beer and piss.

Because Ballers coach Robert Price had just signed up for the RBI and Rookie leagues, they hadn't gotten any equipment or uniforms, so I wrote that Price was waiting and hoping for a benevolent benefactor to help out.

Price didn't get a generous soul.

He got several.

Lisa Dunlop, chief development officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia, read the story and called to tell me that they have a beautiful, well-maintained baseball diamond at 18th and Hunting Park that the Ballers were free to use for home games. I gave her Robert Price's number. A deal is in the works.

Len Hulme, a Doylestown retiree, called to tell me the Ballers story touched him also. A former minor leaguer, Hulme was born and raised in Hunting Park. He promised to send the Ballers much of his accumulation of baseball equipment.

Vicki Ellis is the city liaison coordinator for the School District of Philadelphia and helps run the district's Beacon Program, which is essentially a community center within schools run by community organizations. Ellis called to tell me that the story gave her an idea.

"There are 20, soon to be 24, Beacon schools as part of the mayor's strategy for expanding afterschool programs," she said. "I read your article and wondered if we can institute the RBI/Rookie leagues into the Beacon Program. It might be a great way to help teams locate and access good fields to use."

I thanked Ms. Ellis for her interest, and forwarded her to the RBI and Rookie leagues coordinator with the Phillies, Meghan Leary.

And then there's Tim Horan who owns the Horan Sports athletic-goods outlet in Conshohocken. Horan showed up at the very next Ballers practice with balls, bats, gloves and new catcher's gear.

"It was just a wonderful experience," a breathless Horan told me. "Robert let me coach, and the kids were just the greatest. I'm going back every chance I get, and I'm going to get some other people I know in the sporting-goods business to help out with equipment."

When I spoke to Robert Price again this past Tuesday, the big man was overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity.

"It's really been a blessing," Price told me, his voice cracking with emotion. "I have people calling all the time to volunteer time, money and equipment to the team. Tim Horan came out with all kinds of equipment, and he's even helping me out as an assistant coach. This is just the greatest thing I could have hoped for."

Price also said that in the past week, more parents have participated than ever before, not just dropping the kids off at practice, but staying to see how they're doing, and to watch Price coach.

"This thing is really taking off," he said, "and I can't tell you grateful I am. I can't stop saying it. This is really a blessing."

Now back to the issue of my taking credit for Price and the Ballers' sudden good fortune. Again, I'd like to soak up the gratitude, but I can't.

Let's face it: I didn't actually do anything but write a story, which is what I get paid to do.

The real angels here are Horan, Hulme and all the others who see an article in the newspaper about total strangers in need and rush to fill a need without waiting for someone else to act.

We modern urbanites like to talk a lot about the cold, callous big city, and how nobody really cares about anyone else. We say that the milk of human kindness is a long dead notion and in this cruel world, you can expect no quarter and no sympathy.

Thank God we're wrong.

Daryl Gale’s weekly radio show, Dialogues, with co-hosts Rotan Lee and Bill Miller, is burning up the airwaves Fridays 7-10 a.m. on WURD (900 AM) in Philadelphia.