Team Players

They weren’t ready for the big leagues or maybe even the Little League. But for those attending a Ventura police-sponsored baseball camp Friday, half the fun was just being there.

Children who walked in unable to toss a ball a few feet learned that two fingers along the seams could send it to the fence. Those who swung wildly at balls floating in midair were taught to line up their knuckles and swing like they meant it.

But no one, it seemed, let the fundamentals of baseball interfere with the fundamentals of fun. And for the police, the objective was never sports excellence but to win the hearts and minds of children from tough neighborhoods who might see them more as oppressors than public servants.

“I thought the cops were kind of scary,” said 10-year-old Guillermo Garcia of Montalvo.

A gangly girl beside him nodded.

“Sometimes, when I see them going down the street, I think there is some trouble,” said 9-year-old Crystal Aceves, also from Montalvo. “But these guys are really nice.”

After two days of baseball sponsored by the Police Activities League, the children ages 5 to 13 lined up for hot dogs, soda and socializing with their new police pals in Lyons Park, near DeAnza Middle School.

“This gives them something to do and a chance to see us in a different setting, rather than just in a black-and-white,” said Ventura Police Cpl. Ray Vance, a PAL coordinator. “We will go to the siblings of gang members and take them under our wing and show them there are alternatives in life.”

This is the third year of the baseball camp. PAL also sponsors golf, basketball, field trips to museums and other activities aimed at exposing at-risk youths to things outside of their neighborhoods. The 34 children who attended the baseball camp Friday came from Cabrillo Village, Montalvo and the Ventura Avenue neighborhoods, all of which have seen serious gang activity.

A PAL van picked them up from their homes and they received baseball bats and gloves along with a free meal during the two-day camp. And although it wasn’t the usual season for baseball, the kids didn’t seem to mind.

As the camp wound down, the children lounged on the grass chattering about pitching, catching and how much mustard they could fit on a hot dog. Very few, it seemed, had played baseball before.

Menahem Aguilar, 7, was eager to show off “the alligator”--a style of scooping up a fast grounder into his glove.

His father Pedro Aguilar Jr., 30, watched his son learn the basics.

“Back when I was 17 years old, I had some trouble with the law and I didn’t like the police at first,” he said, describing his youth growing up on Ventura Avenue. “My mother and father said there were good police officers and bad, but I didn’t want to listen to them. Now, I tell my kids that the cops are their friends. I tell them if they are lost or in trouble to always go to a police officer.”

His daughter Jasmine, 5, toyed with some sparkling lip gloss but showed little interest in baseball.

Asked if she hit the ball, she chirped, “No.” Did she throw a ball? “No.” Did she even look at a baseball? “No.”

Camp coordinator and Police Cpl. Sam Arroyo said he grew up playing baseball. He brought some Ventura officers who were part of the department’s softball team with him. They formed teams with the kids and played a few games. When the kids couldn’t hit a pitch, they set the ball on T-ball stands to make it easier.

“The first year we did this, almost none of these kids ever touched a baseball and half of those didn’t have a glove,” Arroyo said. “Hopefully, they will now see us as approachable and that we are people, too.”

Arroyo led the ketchup- and mustard-faced children to a shady spot on the grass. He then called each by name. They marched up for a certificate and a pack of baseball cards.

Menahem, in his smudged red shirt, walked up, took his certificate and returned to his smiling father.

“Hey, Menahem,” his dad whispered. “We’ll frame this and put it in your room when we get home.”