Home runs have the ability to bridge all language gaps.
At the kickoff festivities Friday night at the Ripken Baseball Stadium Complex for the Cal Ripken World Series, 12-year-old Carlos Munoz from Mexico said plenty with his record 18 blasts in the home run derby. The slugger smacked long balls off the side of the nearby Marriott hotel ? built as a replica of the Warehouse on Eutaw Street ? before he was swarmed by players from all 16 teams.
“It wasn?t just his team congratulating him, but kids from all countries started congratulating him and patting him on the head like he just hit a home run in the seventh game of the World Series,” said Rob Weinhold, vice president of Ripken Baseball, who serves as host president of the CRWS. “This is a wonderful international event to celebrate the game of baseball. The opportunity for young people to compete and meet players from around the world is a unique experience.”
The display of sportsmanship and respect is just one example of how the Cal Ripken World Series brings players together from across the globe. Aside from the two Maryland teams ? the state champs from Calvert County and the host team from Emmorton ? players from the other 14 squads representing six countries stay with host families, who house them during the tournament.
Dawn Tavillo, a resident of Aberdeen, opened her doors to players from Canada for the fifth consecutive year. Throughout the week, Tavillo and other host families take the players miniature golfing, sightseeing at the Inner Harbor and to an Orioles or IronBirds game, but some teams elect to go on a day trip to New York City or Washington, D.C.
“A lot of these families [that volunteer] are very close knit,” Tavillo said. “We have a ball with the kids.”
For some of the players, it?s the first time they are away from home, as the tournament features teams from Japan, Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Republic of Korea and Mexico.
“They get a new understanding of the way baseball is played,” said Bob Nilsson, who coaches the team from Australia. “We bring boys over, but we take back men.”
Whole new ball game
The Cal Ripken World Series is getting bigger. Following the creation of two 12-year old divisions in Babe Ruth League baseball this year, the CRWS will see the bases moved 10 feet further apart and the mound moved back four feet.
The new dimensions measure 70 feet between bases and 50 feet from the rubber to home plate. The move was made to prepare players for high school, where bases are 90 feet apart and the pitcher?s mound is 60- feet, 6 inches from home plate.
“The changes make the game a bit more real,” said Rob Weinhold, vice president of Ripken Baseball. “It really makes batters earn their way on base.”
