Future Hall of Famer, ex-MLB star to hold baseball clinic

Future Hall of Famer and former Major League Baseball (MLB) player Ken Griffey Jr. will hold a four-day clinic in the country next month to further generate interest in the sport. Griffey will be joined by his brother Craig and Joe Logan in the clinic, which was made possible by US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas, a known baseball fan. Thomas said that he has been watching Filipinos play baseball since he replaced Kristie Kenney in April last year. “Nanood ako ng baseball sa Rizal Memorial at Smokey Mountain at magagaling ang mga Filipino. Gusto ko na mas dumami pa ang maglaro ng baseball (I watched baseball games at Rizal Memorial and Smokey Mountain, and Filipinos are good players. I want to have more Filipinos playing baseball)," said the Ambassador in broken Tagalog. Thomas said he is pushing for baseball’s development not only because Filipinos can truly excel in the sport, but also because it teaches teamwork and being responsible, which are qualities that can help develop the country. “Baseball players have individual roles but they need to play as a team to be successful. We need to work together, we need more coaches, we need more leagues and we need more sponsors," said Thomas. Griffey Jr., known as “The Kid" or Junior, played for ten years with the Seattle Mariners before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds in the 2000 season. He also played for the Chicago White Sox in 2008. Griffey Jr. was considered as the best defensive player and one of the most prolific home run hitters in MLB history. He is ranked fifth in the all-time home run list with 630 homers and joins Babe Ruth, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa as the only baseball players who had multiple seasons with at least 55 round-trippers. It was the Americans who taught Filipinos how to play the sport in the 1900s when both countries began to share a rich history. In 1934, when the Rizal Memorial Baseball Field was opened, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were among the first American MLB players who played in the stadium against local teams in a series of exhibition games. Ruth and Gehrig immortalized their visits by having their names etched on the venue wall as the first two players to hit homeruns in the historic field. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV