Think Tank
From May 15 – May 22 the Miami Marlins and 11 local schools celebrated Marlins Think Tank Week. This was just one of the programs run during Marlins Education Month – May 2013.
The Marlins Think Tank is a curriculum-enhancement program that utilizes the Miami Marlins as the basis for learning! Marlins Think Tank aims to enrich the learning experiences of children in grades 4 through 6 by linking baseball to the curriculum areas of writing, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and health and fitness.
As part of the program, participating classrooms have the opportunity to join in the Marlins Think Tank Week Sweepstakes. Classrooms submitted their completed Think Tank lessons for a chance to be visited by Marlins players, coaches, and broadcast personalities.
Eleven schools were selected as winners including Ben Sheppard Elementary, Bent Tree Elementary, Bunche Park Elementary, Citrus Grove Elementary, Cooper City Elementary, Griffin Elementary, HL Johnson Community Elementary, Mater Academy of International Studies, Mater Beach Academy, Palm Cove Elementary and Pasadena Lakes Elementary.
During the Marlins visits to winning classrooms, students presented on what they learned, asked questions to the players and personnel, and got autographs and pictures.
Check on these cool videos about the Think Tank week visits!
Redmond, Fernandez, and Ozuna visit Citrus Grove Elementary School
Hechavarria, Green, and Hernandez visit Ben Sheppard Elementary School
For more information about the Marlins Think Tank, visit http://www.marlins.com/thinktank .
Happy [belated] Mothers’ Day!
Happy Mothers’ Day! Yes, Mothers’ Day was May 12th, but as you know the Marlins were on the West Coast, so we couldn’t properly celebrate. One week later the Miami Marlins and a few of our closest friends gathered to celebrate Mothers’ Day and one special mother in particular – 2013 Honorary Bat Girl, Ana Sanchez.
Each year Major League baseball hosts the Honorary Bat Girl contest which awards woman baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and demonstrate a commitment to eradicating the disease. This year the Miami Marlins honored Ana Sanchez as one of only 30 women across the country who were awarded Honorary Bat Girl status!
Ana Sanchez was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Ana underwent Chemotherapy and 33 rounds of radiation. At that time, as a long-time supporter of the Susan G. Komen Walk for Cure, she teamed up with her daughter, Christine to form Team Ana-Licious. Over the past three years Team Ana-Licious has grown to about 80 members and they have raised nearly $12,000 in support of the cause.
Ana is more than grateful for Team Ana-Licious and her personal support group. In addition to her dedication to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Ana is passionate about early detection and commitment to treatment. Because of her passion, her doctors have asked her to come back as a mentor to patients currently going through chemotherapy. Ana’s support for the cause is endless. She even hopes to begin a campaign with her daughter to make gene testing affordable through insurance
At the risk of making Ana sound like a news story, I have to stop. Today, meeting Ana and her daughter Christine and spending the afternoon with them was the first time in my life that I made a true friend in just a few hours. I mean I laughed, cried, took pictures with them, and even played with their kids and grandkids. Today I witnessed true joy and positivity. My experience meeting these radiant women was just as meaningful and significant as their experience doing TV interviews, meeting Logan Morrison, and throwing out the first pitch at Marlins Park.
Even though this day was all about celebrating and honoring Ana, she could not stop talking about others. She raved about her daughter’s work in forming Team Ana-Licious and designing their beautiful, pink shirts, she praised her co-workers for their support and gifts, and she appreciated her family for coming out. Her selflessness, graciousness, and thankfulness embodied what we all admire about mothers and reinforced the reason why we celebrate them.
So from the bottom of our hearts here at the Miami Marlins, to Ana, to Christine, and to all of you, Happy [belated] Mothers’ Day!
To learn more about the Honorary Bat Girl Contest and MLB Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer, vist http://www.MLBCommunity.org/mothersday .
…and the winner is? Megan Diaz
“I WON THE RBI SCHOLARSHIP!!!”
That was the text message I received last Friday to kick off the weekend.
Immediately I was overcome with excitement as if it were I who had been awarded the scholarship, telling anyone who would listen how another one of our RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) players had been awarded Major League Baseball’s “RBI for RBI” Scholarship. Megan Diaz, a senior at Miami Senior High School and a third year RBI participant, became the sixth player in the past five years to be awarded this prestigious $20,000 national scholarship presented to notable members nationwide of the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program.
In her senior year, Megan served as captain for her high school softball team while excelling in the classroom, maintaining a 5.24 GPA and completing multiple advanced placement classes. Following the RBI season, Megan will be taking her talents up to Gainesville, FL, to attend the University of Florida, where she will study to become a pediatrician. Megan also has aspirations of walking on to the Gators’ softball team.
Personally, receiving the news about Megan was a thrill for me because I had the privilege of serving as her RBI coach for the Miami High School team (my alma mater) during the regular season, and then again on the All-Star team. Last summer Megan made the All-Star team and despite not having played in any of the first three games, she kept a positive attitude, supporting her teammates and staying prepared to contribute when the opportunity presented itself.
In the final game of the tournament, Megan entered as a late game defensive replacement in a tie game in right field. As the softball gods should have it, in the bottom of the 7th inning with two outs and a runner on second, the opposing team smoked a base hit to right field and with the winning run rounding third base, Megan fielded and came up firing. Players came spilling out of the dugout, but not because the game had ended, but because the runner was called out on Megan’s game-saving rocket throw! The game would eventually end in a tie, but it was the program’s first non-loss since 2009, and I could not have been more proud.
Megan shared with me that this was her most memorable moment playing RBI and when asked about it said, “I felt awesome as I ran into the dugout and saw my coach with a smile from ear to ear. I will never forget that moment!”
I hope she also knows that it was one of my most memorable moments not just as a coach, but also since becoming a member of the Miami Marlins.
For more information on the “RBI for RBI” Scholarship visit http://www.mlb.com/rbi
-Juancho
The Marlins Leave Their Mark
Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton can do more than throw 97MPH heaters and hit 474 foot homeruns. They can finger-paint. They joined South Florida’s top athletes in leaving their handprint for Young at Art. Manager Mike Redmond, Jeff Conine, Cliff Floyd, Charles Johnson and Juan Pierre joined them in leaving their handprints on memorabillia for the STOMP at Young at Art second annual gala for the benefit of YAA programming for underserved and at-risk youth. The mission of Young At Art Children’s Museum is to provide hands-on cultural, educational and arts experiences for youth that awaken their creativity in a fun and exciting environment. Check out the photo below!
May The 4th Be With You… Pitch, Hit & Run
On Cuatro de Mayo, kids from City of Miami Parks and Recreation and Miami PAL were bussed out to Marlins Park for the 2nd Jr RBI Pitch, Hit & Run Competition. This baseball skills challenge measured who could drive the ball the furthest off a tee, throw the most strikes with 6 pitches, and blaze around the bases the quickest. This was a welcomed experience for the kids who had their games rained out from the nasty weather earlier in the week… but on this day, with the ballpark as the backdrop, it was picturesque. At the end of the day 12 kids from 4 different age groups advanced to the sectional round and we hope to see those Jr RBI shirts back at Marlins Park for the on field Regional Championships. The Jr RBI program is supported by Marlins Ayudan volunteers and sponsored by Marlins players Adeiny Hechavarria, Donovan Solano, and Nathan Eovaldi.
-Juancho
Adrian Mora
David Allende
Joanne Messing
Juancho
Angela Smith
sgaywood
Sarah
