THIS IS THE FACE…

In 1986 my then wife and I wanted to go somewhere different, someplace not often visited, discovered, by Americans. We found, and decided on, the Dominican Republic, the north coast, a place called Puerto Plata. It had a resort or two, was well known to Europeans, but certainly didn’t have the tourist amenities that Americans expect. At our resort one thing was very noticeable: everybody was a fan of Tony Fernandez, a Dominican and the shortstop of the Toronto Blue Jays. They were wearing hats, shirts, jerseys with his name and team displayed.

Fast forward to 2004. I decided to take a group trip with listeners to the new resort area called Punta Cana. My daughter went along. I explained their love of baseball, so we took two baseballs in hopes we would run into a couple of kids playing with sticks, socks wrapped in duct tape for balls. We found those kids, gave them the balls. You would have thought we gave them the winning Power Ball numbers.

So in 2008 when I took my next group I asked listeners for donate used baseball equipment. We had t-shirts made, and were able to equip about 50 kids. It just kept getting better.

More trips followed, got bigger and bigger, and then about 2015 I reached out to Dick Monfort, owner of the Rockies. He put me in touch with his staff at their Dominican baseball academy. They agreed to find very poor villages, villages without running water, electricity, where we could help them develop a youth baseball program. The response has been overwhelming (see previous blog).

But on a recent return trip from Mexico, the Yucatan area, I met a man who told me that some people were trying to develop youth baseball on the peninsula. Contact was made. Listeners responded with a “ton” of gear. The first trip was in February of this year with over 400 pounds of equipment, and a recent trip was even better. Out to the “boonies,” a Mayan village. No English spoken, just baseball and smiles. I have posted pictures so you can see the joy that these trips generate.

Although more trips to the Dominican Republic are possible, we have had tremendous impact there, I plan to make more trips to Mexico in hopes that our impact can continue to grow in that country, our wonderful neighbor to the south. Thank you for your support, it wouldn’t be possible without you, and please, please, keep it coming.