Retired Major Leaguer takes on youth in wiffle ball match-up
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Although he arrived in the area during the early morning hours, retired Major League baseball player Tim Raines took time at noon Friday to play a game of pickup wiffle ball on the lawn at UPMC Williamsport with children from the YMCA's summer camp program.
Raines, who spent the first inning pitching to the children, told them prior to the game that he began his career as a professional baseball player when he was 19 years old, playing second base and then moving to the position of left field. Throughout his career, Raines played for several Major League teams, but his primary team was the Montreal Expos. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. He also played in seven All-Star games, achieving MVP in his last game.
Taking a break from the wiffle ball game, Raines spoke with the press about his time in the sport and why connecting children with Little League is important.
"I think it's important not only from a physical standpoint, but camaraderie and friends," Raines said.
He compared it to spending time in school, even though it's not a daily occurrence.
"You're working with a certain group for an extended period of time and you're all going for the same goal to go out and play and try to win games," he said.
He shared that growing up in a small town in Florida in the 1960s and 70s, he did not play on an official Little League team, but on what was called a Pony League.
"We didn't get the opportunity to come here to Williamsport to participate in the tournament that's played here," he said, adding that at that time he really wasn't familiar with it.
He added that in addition to baseball, he played other sports, such as football and basketball growing up.
With all the national coverage on television of youth sports, Raines said that he feels it's much easier to learn about the opportunities to participate.
"I think it's way easier to get involved. I think it's more recognizable. You can watch the little guys on television. I think it makes it a little more important. You probably want to be a part of that. I think it helps to get kids to want to be a part of that," he said.
Raines said he felt it was important for sports figures to interact with youth.
"It is important to let kids know that I was a kid once and I played … It got me to the position that I'm in right now. If that's what you want, if you want to be a professional, it starts early. I think, not only being a professional baseball player, it gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of different people -- a different environment. Who knows, it could take you to the Major Leagues or it could take you to other places," he said.
One of his personal inspirations for playing baseball was his father.
"My dad was a baseball player. I have four other siblings that played the game as well. We were a baseball family," he said.
"My dad never got the opportunity to play professional baseball. He was a really good player. I think if he had had that opportunity, he would have had a chance to maybe even be a Major Leaguer, but I kind of saw it in his eyes in me. I made it that much more important for me to strive to do the best I could to make it so he could see what it was like to be a major league player," he added.
Raines shared that when he got called up to the Major Leagues to Montreal, he purchased a ticket so that his father could see his first Major League game with his son playing.
His advice to Little Leaguers who might have their eyes set on playing in the big leagues someday: "If you feel you have the skills, you have the know how, you have the want to make it to the major leagues, this is where it starts. If you can get a good start, a good foundation, being around a good organization, around great family, the sky's the limit."
This is the fourth year that UPMC has organized the wiffle ball game, an event which cements UPMC's commitment to Little League in the community.
"We really wanted to find a way to involve our local community and get them excited about Little League," said Patti Jackson, vice president at UPMC Williamsport.
"We work with the children at the Y and some of the other children in the neighborhood to bring them out. We just wanted something that was simple, just a neighborhood pickup game of wiffle ball. We just wanted the kids to have that interaction. The Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce brings the Major League baseball player each year, and Tim Raines has been fabulous," she said, noting that Raines had just tagged one of the young players out in the pickup game in progress.
"You can see he's playing real ball," she added.
Jackson said that the game is a great way for UPMC to engage in the community.
"And also, it's Little League and Williamsport is all about Little League and we want to do our part to celebrate it, to do something fun and to get people excited around this time of year," she said.
Jackson added that UPMC is also involved with the Little League World Series, providing health services during the games.
Even though some of the children from the Y's program may not have heard of Tim Raines, they were still excited to be a part of the game at UPMC.
"All morning and yesterday, I heard them saying, 'When are we going?' They were super excited. They wanted to come over to play," Sarah March, one of the teachers in the Y's program said.
In preparation for the event, March said that they had discussed that Raines was a professional baseball player.
"The boys, especially, were super excited to meet him," she added.