It’s a Hit : Kids Take the Field for World Baseball Fair

“It’s a beautiful day for baseball,” everyone was expecting Ernie Banks to say. “Let’s play two!”

But Banks, the Chicago Cubs’ Hall of Famer and irrepressible optimist, forgot to deliver his trademark line. “I made an error out there today,” he admitted later, grinning.

As George Steinbrenner, Pete Rose and even Roseanne Barr could tell you, bigger errors have been made. Maybe baseball fans are fretting about the national pastime, but on Tuesday, a beautiful day for baseball, Banks and three other home run heroes--Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Japan’s Sadaharu Oh--gathered at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium to celebrate the glory of their game--and the hopefully glorious days to come for the likes of 12-year-old Pius Mayunga of Zimbabwe, 13-year-old Tom Rudl of Austria, and 13-year-old Olga Sukhoreva of the Soviet Union.

The occasion was the opening ceremonies of the World Children’s Baseball Fair, a weeklong event that has brought together more than 200 children representing 23 countries to the UCLA campus to promote fundamentals that range from bunting to sportsmanship. Confidently described as the “first annual,” the baseball fair is the brainchild of Oh and some Japanese corporate leaders.

“The World Children’s Baseball Fair is about children,” Oh said through an interpreter. “I started playing baseball in Japan when I was in second grade. My family was poor, but baseball gave me the opportunity to change my life as it did for Henry, Ernie and Willie.”

Baseball is about opportunity, Oh said. He paid tribute to the late Jackie Robinson, the first black allowed to play in major league baseball. Robinson’s widow, Racheal, participated in the opening ceremonies.

“His courage was an inspiration to Americans of all colors and creeds,” Oh said.

This was baseball, after all, so the ceremony commenced with the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” The children, all dressed in their uniforms, obediently doffed their caps and then sat down and fidgeted as the adults talked on and on in languages that only some of them could understand.

Banks, serving as master of ceremonies, introduced each of the aging superstars as “this next young man. . . .”

Aaron spoke of his respect for Oh, a friendship born of their status as respective home run kings of their nations. Aaron hit 755 in the U.S. major leagues; Oh hit 868 in Japan’s majors. “Mr. Oh’s vision of baseball as a means of international good will is one that I share,” Aaron said.

Mays talked of the emotion he felt seeing children of so many nations together. “I tell you, I get chills. . . . This isn’t about baseball, this is about what you’re made of.” He compared Oh’s “dream” to that of Martin Luther King Jr.

Racheal Robinson remembered how “our world was opened up” when she and Jackie were students at UCLA. She suggested that the world would now open up for the children at the baseball fair.

“This world is hungry, really hungry, for peaceful solutions to conflict,” she said.

The strong international showing was a measure of both the increasing internationalism of baseball and the funding from sponsors such as Hitachi, Mizuno and American Airlines. The U.S. home-grown sport, big in Latin America and some Asian countries for decades, is now making inroads in Europe and Africa.

The time came for Oh, Aaron, Mays and Banks to each throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Banks had arranged for Jackie Robinson’s grandson, Jesse, to catch the first throw--but a kid from Venezuela cut him off and made the play.

Everyone laughed. Banks wound up again and Jesse caught the ceremonial second pitch--proving it was a good day for two after all.

Soon it was warm-up time for the players, and they seemed glad that the pomp and circumstance was over, and they could get down to the business of playing ball.

Pius Mayunga, a hard-throwing pitcher, was one of five youngsters from Zimbabwe who made the trip. Their chaperon explained that a barnstorming Nigerian team brought baseball into the country two years ago, and the game is quickly gaining in popularity. The five young Zimbabweans said they had never heard of Aaron, Oh, Mays or Banks before Tuesday.

In Austria, however, the game hasn’t exactly caught fire, but Rudl, a rangy first baseman, is eager to learn while running track on the side.

Olga Sukhoreva, a girl shortstop, is more experienced at softball. But her fellow Soviet, 14-year-old Nodari Sidamonidze, is gung-ho for the game after hitting three homers in his first season of play.

Does he like the game? “ Da, “ Sidamonidze said.