![]() Game 1 will get just a little more attention from Veterans and employees alike at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. One example can be found on the pitcher’s mound tonight in Cleveland. ![]() Front office staff and umpires alike have spent their time volunteering at VA medical centers and other facilities -to serve Veterans, all the way from Atlanta to Seattle. For years, many Major League Baseball teams have supported their local facilities, visited hospitalized Veterans, provided free tickets to ballgames, and even held military or Veteran appreciation nights. While I’m pretty sure most Veterans didn’t get a chance to play whiffle ball in a hazardous duty zone, many of them have their own special connection to the sport, as well as some of the Major League talent playing in the “Big Show.”Ģ014 Cy Young Award winner, Corey Kluber, visits with a Veteran at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.įor quite a few, this connection is no farther away than their local VA facility. It was our way of spending what spare time we had to blow off some steam in the “friendly confines” of Camp Bedrock, Bosnia-Herzegovina. I have also felt the pain of that fastball and others like it as they smacked into my elbow, chest, legs, or side of the head … and yet, I learned to soldier on, mature, and control that fear, and experienced the thrill of knocking that fastball over some heads.īut when I think of baseball, one of my fondest memories is playing whiffle ball, outfitted in “full battle rattle,” from the Kevlar helmet on my head to the M16A2 rifle slung across my back, with 180 rounds of 5.56-mm ammo around my waist. ![]() I know what it’s like to stare down a pitcher while simultaneously praying he won’t throw the fastball. While not a diehard baseball fan myself, I enjoyed playing the game in my youth. MLB umpire and DAV volunteer Jerry Layne visited with Veterans at the Lexington VA Medical Center in November 2015. ![]()
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