MLB group on goodwill tour to Ghana
Hall of Famer Winfield to embark on humanitarian mission
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- A contingent of former Major League stars
and current management personnel left on a four-day baseball
goodwill tour to the African nation of Ghana on Thursday.
The group includes Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, Mets
general manager Omar Minaya, Dusty Baker, Reggie Smith,
Al Jackson and Bob Watson, Major League Baseball's
vice president of on-field operations.
Theur, sponsored by the African Development Foundation,
is earmarked at delivering baseball equipment and spreading the ethos of the sport to the children of the West
African nation. But Winfield, a vice president of the Padres, has a more far-reaching task. After the main group
leaves, Winfield will travel into villages on a humanitarian mission along with John Moores, San Diego's majority
owner, and President Jimmy Carter.
The core baseball tour was the brainchild of George Ntim, founder and president of the ADF.
Moores and Carter plan on making Ghana their first stop on a nearly three-week, four-country trip, during which
their group will deliver medicine and educational materials to local villages. In Ghana, Moores said, his group is
tracing the eradication of the Guinea Worm from the population of some 21 million that inhabit the country.
"We're checking the water supply and making sure that it's filtered," said Moores of a Guinea Worm parasite that
is largely carried through drinking water. "Then we want to be sure people aren't drinking from the wrong source."
Winfield, who was elected to the Hall in 2001 and played the first eight of his 22 seasons with the Padres, initially
jumped at the chance to join his colleagues on the baseball portion of the trip. But, he said, the chance to do
some humanitarian work while he's over there was too important to pass up.
"We're going to be bringing some medicine into the rural areas of Ghana," Winfield said on Thursday after a bon
voyage press conference at the SNY-TV studios in Rockefeller Center. "So after we finish this baseball end of the
trip, I'm just going to stay over for a few more days and go with them. It'll be a great thing. It's a great opportunity to
do something like that: to provide high-level humanitarian services to that part of the world. I'm very excited about
it."
Moores is the director of the Atlanta-based Carter Center and is providing his personally-owned plane to ferry the
former president from Georgia to Africa and all other points.
The day's proceedings were emotional enough what with Ntim, a native of Ghana now working in the U.S. for the
Marriott Corp., choking up while describing his relationship with Minaya, who called the Mets' participation in the
baseball tour an extension of his club's "world vision."
MLB's previous commitment to the African continent centered on the development of baseball in South Africa, the
now apartheid-free state to the south, which was one of 16 countries or territories to send a team to the first
World Baseball Classic last March.
But the Ghana trip is the beginning of a grass-roots effort to introduce baseball into that culture.
The four-day excursion is scheduled to include a minicamp, an equipment giveaway, a visit to local schools to
promote Tee-Ball and various social functions with the top politicians of a country that achieved independence
from the United Kingdom in 1957 and has since employed a thriving two-party system.
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com.
Hall of Famer Winfield to embark on humanitarian mission
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- A contingent of former Major League stars
and current management personnel left on a four-day baseball
goodwill tour to the African nation of Ghana on Thursday.
The group includes Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, Mets
general manager Omar Minaya, Dusty Baker, Reggie Smith,
Al Jackson and Bob Watson, Major League Baseball's
vice president of on-field operations.
Theur, sponsored by the African Development Foundation,
is earmarked at delivering baseball equipment and spreading the ethos of the sport to the children of the West
African nation. But Winfield, a vice president of the Padres, has a more far-reaching task. After the main group
leaves, Winfield will travel into villages on a humanitarian mission along with John Moores, San Diego's majority
owner, and President Jimmy Carter.
The core baseball tour was the brainchild of George Ntim, founder and president of the ADF.
Moores and Carter plan on making Ghana their first stop on a nearly three-week, four-country trip, during which
their group will deliver medicine and educational materials to local villages. In Ghana, Moores said, his group is
tracing the eradication of the Guinea Worm from the population of some 21 million that inhabit the country.
"We're checking the water supply and making sure that it's filtered," said Moores of a Guinea Worm parasite that
is largely carried through drinking water. "Then we want to be sure people aren't drinking from the wrong source."
Winfield, who was elected to the Hall in 2001 and played the first eight of his 22 seasons with the Padres, initially
jumped at the chance to join his colleagues on the baseball portion of the trip. But, he said, the chance to do
some humanitarian work while he's over there was too important to pass up.
"We're going to be bringing some medicine into the rural areas of Ghana," Winfield said on Thursday after a bon
voyage press conference at the SNY-TV studios in Rockefeller Center. "So after we finish this baseball end of the
trip, I'm just going to stay over for a few more days and go with them. It'll be a great thing. It's a great opportunity to
do something like that: to provide high-level humanitarian services to that part of the world. I'm very excited about
it."
Moores is the director of the Atlanta-based Carter Center and is providing his personally-owned plane to ferry the
former president from Georgia to Africa and all other points.
The day's proceedings were emotional enough what with Ntim, a native of Ghana now working in the U.S. for the
Marriott Corp., choking up while describing his relationship with Minaya, who called the Mets' participation in the
baseball tour an extension of his club's "world vision."
MLB's previous commitment to the African continent centered on the development of baseball in South Africa, the
now apartheid-free state to the south, which was one of 16 countries or territories to send a team to the first
World Baseball Classic last March.
But the Ghana trip is the beginning of a grass-roots effort to introduce baseball into that culture.
The four-day excursion is scheduled to include a minicamp, an equipment giveaway, a visit to local schools to
promote Tee-Ball and various social functions with the top politicians of a country that achieved independence
from the United Kingdom in 1957 and has since employed a thriving two-party system.
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com.
Dave Winfield: They're killing baseball
By Dave Winfield, NY Daily News, Sunday, April 1st 2007
Opening Day. These words are the most magical words for anyone who loves baseball.
Many New Yorkers will ditch work and school to go to the ballpark this season, but their passion will give way to a
growing unease as baseball, from youth leagues to the majors, continues to drop the ball.
Major League Baseball beams at the thought of another year with record-breaking revenues and attendance —
and no labor wars. Yet the fans who buy the tickets and watch the game at home are asked to swallow one
indignity after another.
Over the past 30 years, these die-hard fans have had a box seat to the labor battles, steroid scandals,
congressional hearings and the Pete Rose gambling shame that have all contributed to tainting America's pastime.
And then there's the mediocre players who have career years, take down multimillion-dollar contracts ... and fail to
perform. Add to that the exodus from the game of African-American players and fans — in 1975, 25% of
ballplayers were African-American. Today, it’s 8% ... and some teams have none.
Even the nuances of the game — hitting behind the runner, laying down the perfect bunt, taking infield practice —
are vanishing because such plays don’t make "SportsCenter" or help land a bigger contract.
So, many fans approach the new season with an even greater sense of unease. And some have tuned the game
out altogether. According to fan surveys, our national pastime is less popular than the NFL, the NBA, NASCAR
and, by some measures, even the PGA Tour.
I love the game of baseball. Always have. I'm the only athlete to have been drafted by three professional sports —
the NBA, the NFL and MLB. I have never regretted choosing baseball. The other sports have their merits, of
course, but to me there’s nothing like the crack of the bat, or turning a single into a double.
It’s time to restore this country's passion for baseball. Here's what can be done:
Professional baseball must unite the resources and efforts of Major League Baseball, its players and the MLB
Players Association. Collectively bargain hard, but work together to market the game and expand its fan base.
Team owners should make the game of baseball more easily available to kids, especially in the inner city. They
should hold clinics as a way to mark their territory, competing with other sports and video games to get young
people interested in baseball.
Baseball must halt the exodus of African-Americans from the game as players, spectators, coaches, executives
and business partners. Sixty years after Jackie Robinson crossed the color line, African-Americans are all but
vanishing from baseball — on the field and in the stands. The effort to engage blacks must be redoubled.
Parents have to get their kids away from the table or off the couch. Order the kids to drop the video game and get
out of the house and play. Play catch with your children. The essence of baseball involves running, throwing and
catching — the things that kids love to do. That’s how kids develop baseball ability and a love of the game.
MLB players can do more with the fans through community service. Playing at the top is a privilege, not a right.
Players are there by the grace of God, and on the shoulders of many others who brought dignity to the game.
Players should leave the game better than when they got there.
Baseball credits a “save” to the pitcher who nails down the victory. To earn that save for baseball, it will take all
who love and want to save the game to stand up and get involved ... despite how successful things may look on
the exterior, everyone involved must make their own contribution to the process of returning baseball to its position
of preeminence in American sports.
Winfield, a Hall of Famer, is the author of "Dropping the Ball." His Web site is www.davewinfieldhof.com
By Dave Winfield, NY Daily News, Sunday, April 1st 2007
Opening Day. These words are the most magical words for anyone who loves baseball.
Many New Yorkers will ditch work and school to go to the ballpark this season, but their passion will give way to a
growing unease as baseball, from youth leagues to the majors, continues to drop the ball.
Major League Baseball beams at the thought of another year with record-breaking revenues and attendance —
and no labor wars. Yet the fans who buy the tickets and watch the game at home are asked to swallow one
indignity after another.
Over the past 30 years, these die-hard fans have had a box seat to the labor battles, steroid scandals,
congressional hearings and the Pete Rose gambling shame that have all contributed to tainting America's pastime.
And then there's the mediocre players who have career years, take down multimillion-dollar contracts ... and fail to
perform. Add to that the exodus from the game of African-American players and fans — in 1975, 25% of
ballplayers were African-American. Today, it’s 8% ... and some teams have none.
Even the nuances of the game — hitting behind the runner, laying down the perfect bunt, taking infield practice —
are vanishing because such plays don’t make "SportsCenter" or help land a bigger contract.
So, many fans approach the new season with an even greater sense of unease. And some have tuned the game
out altogether. According to fan surveys, our national pastime is less popular than the NFL, the NBA, NASCAR
and, by some measures, even the PGA Tour.
I love the game of baseball. Always have. I'm the only athlete to have been drafted by three professional sports —
the NBA, the NFL and MLB. I have never regretted choosing baseball. The other sports have their merits, of
course, but to me there’s nothing like the crack of the bat, or turning a single into a double.
It’s time to restore this country's passion for baseball. Here's what can be done:
Professional baseball must unite the resources and efforts of Major League Baseball, its players and the MLB
Players Association. Collectively bargain hard, but work together to market the game and expand its fan base.
Team owners should make the game of baseball more easily available to kids, especially in the inner city. They
should hold clinics as a way to mark their territory, competing with other sports and video games to get young
people interested in baseball.
Baseball must halt the exodus of African-Americans from the game as players, spectators, coaches, executives
and business partners. Sixty years after Jackie Robinson crossed the color line, African-Americans are all but
vanishing from baseball — on the field and in the stands. The effort to engage blacks must be redoubled.
Parents have to get their kids away from the table or off the couch. Order the kids to drop the video game and get
out of the house and play. Play catch with your children. The essence of baseball involves running, throwing and
catching — the things that kids love to do. That’s how kids develop baseball ability and a love of the game.
MLB players can do more with the fans through community service. Playing at the top is a privilege, not a right.
Players are there by the grace of God, and on the shoulders of many others who brought dignity to the game.
Players should leave the game better than when they got there.
Baseball credits a “save” to the pitcher who nails down the victory. To earn that save for baseball, it will take all
who love and want to save the game to stand up and get involved ... despite how successful things may look on
the exterior, everyone involved must make their own contribution to the process of returning baseball to its position
of preeminence in American sports.
Winfield, a Hall of Famer, is the author of "Dropping the Ball." His Web site is www.davewinfieldhof.com
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