The operative phrase here probably is “Play Ball!”
And so, a baseball event planned for Northbrook on Saturday, Feb. 21, in conjunction with the celebration of Black History Month, will go on as planned, with special guests being the players on Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West youth baseball team.
Waukegan’s participation in the event is being led by the Waukegan Township, which is organizing a bus trip for youngsters currently in school grades 4-6 to the North Suburban YMCA (2705 Techny Road) in Northbrook.
The original flier put out by the program’s sponsor — the Northbrook Community Relations Commission — said this was a free event and a chance to meet the baseball players and the coach. There will be a free hot dog lunch at 12:30 p.m.
Also planned is a question/answer session with the players and coach, although that part of the day is probably not clear, given that the team is no longer the 2014 national Little League champion, the coach has been suspended, and the team forfeited its playoff games and U.S. title due to having been found to use players who did not live within the Jackie Robinson West player boundaries.
Also on tap is a multimedia presentation: “Jackie Robinson and Black Baseball Players.”
Kids are encouraged to wear their favorite baseball jersey on “game day.”
A flier released by the Waukegan Township on Thursday said, “Now, more than ever, we need your help to make this event a success. Waukegan Township will use the recent events (Jackie Robinson West being stripped of its title) as a teaching moment for our youth.”
The release also quoted from DNAinfo Report: “Brandon Green, 13, the team’s catcher who pitched the last game against (South) Korea in the International World Series, was riding to his school bus stop with his mother when he heard the news on the radio, his mother said. ‘I saw the tears well up in his eyes,’ his mother, Venisa Green, told DNAinfo Chicago. ‘I asked him, was he OK? Should we go back home?’ And he said, ‘No mommy, I’ll be OK.'”
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The purpose of the day is to celebrate the sport of baseball and to emphasis our commonalities.
To attend, contact Waukegan Township by next Wednesday. There will be free bus transportation for up to 90 children and 10 adults. Parents do not have to attend with their children. However, participants must be residents of Waukegan Township, and only two children from each household can attend. The buses will depart from Park Place (in Belvedere Park, Lewis and Route 120), at 11 a.m.
To get an application, go to website http://www.waukegantownship.com. Or you can get one at Park Place.