Former Dodger honored at Mann Elementary
Horace Mann Elementary was a sea of blue Friday morning as students and staff donned the color to honor former Los Angeles Dodger Al Ferrara.
The ex-outfielder has spent the past several years visiting the campus — reading to students and telling life stories.
“Al Ferrara has been here on many occasions. He is not a parent here to any student or a grandfather. He comes to us to help and motivate us,” Rosa Alonso, the school’s principal, said. “For no other reason than because he chooses to — that’s something we are grateful for.”
She said the celebration has been in the works for a while, back when the Dodgers were still in contention for the World Series, and school officials wanted it to tie into a theme of giving thanks for the month of November.
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Ferrara said he was energized to continue his community outreach work when he visited the school for the first time eight years ago.
“There’s something about Horace Mann when I first came here,” he said. “The kids were so enthusiastic toward me that it spurred me on to stay in this work — It gives me the gratitude that I have for what I do.”
The 77-year-old retired baseball player said his goal has been to connect with the students and make sure that, regardless of their circumstances, they can do and be whatever they want in life if they put in the work.
Ferrara said it’s easy to get their attention by wearing a Dodger jersey, the hard part comes in relaying a message they can take to heart.
“I try to bring something to them where they can see that many good things are going on in life that they can do and be successful in,” he said. “They can come from any background and go as far as they want to.”
One of his life stories is about growing up as a classically-trained pianist in Brooklyn and wanting to play baseball instead. He worked out a deal with his family where he could focus on baseball full-time if he was the best pianist in his class.
Ferrara would go on to play with the Dodgers for several years in the 1960s, receiving two World Series rings in 1963 and 1965 as well as hitting a single during the 1966 championship.
Students at the school look upon Ferrara with great admiration.
“He’s a great inspiration to other kids,” fifth-grader Alexis Cabral said. “He’s done so many different things and had so many different accomplishments.”
Ferrara is so well regarded by the campus community that Chris Burt, a teacher specialist and coordinator at the school, has taken to calling him “Uncle Al.”
“I love him. He’s the greatest thing that hit Horace Mann,” she said. “Our kids love him and he’s been a very big part of our community.”
Ferrara said there’s no better feeling than being a positive force in the community. It’s something he didn’t really pay attention to when he was still playing, that he was more focused on himself and baseball.
Now, he said he’s doing more good than he has ever done before.
“Getting up early in the morning, coming out to see the energy from the kids … There’s no base hit that can beat that,” he said.
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Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com
Twitter: @Andy_Truc