Indians pitcher Paul Byrd, along with his son Cody, (left) takes a break from shopping to talk with Julio.

Tribe, Dick’s Sporting Goods help out area kids
By Matt Pawlikowski
Sports
Published Aug. 8, 2007

Imagine the look on kids’ faces last week when they walked into Dick’s Sporting Goods in Westlake and found a group of their favorite athletes, including Grady Sizemore and C.C. Sabathia, shopping the morning before a ballgame.

Obviously, their eyes lit up, and an occasional autograph was sought out.

Now imagine the faces of the kids who were shopping with some of the Tribe’s finest. On a day when most players around the league would be at home resting, those two, along with seven other Indians, spent time with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland and Lorain at Shop With a Pro day.

The players were on hand to help the kids decide how to spend the $100 gift cards that Dick’s Sporting Goods provided to participants, and it was hard to decide who had a better time, the players or the youths.This year, 32 kids, ages 7 to 15, took part in the event.

This was the second year that pitcher Paul Byrd took time out of his busy schedule to help the youths. Last year, Byrd even donated some of his own money so that the kids he was with could have more items.

“It really does something for me,” Byrd said. “To see their reactions of walking around with a Major League player, it’s cool. You kind of lose perspective in the big leagues. You tend to forget that $100 is a lot of money and what it means to these kids.”

Mike Rouse got some lessons from his crew of kids, including Jesus, Roberto and Favio, who also were members of a championship baseball team and weren’t shy about giving tips. (West Life photos by Larry Bennet)

C.C. Sabathia was all smiles with his group as he sorted through clothes with them. He said it brought back memories of his days as a youth with the Boys and Girls Club.

“I remember how the Boys and Girls Club had an effect on my life growing up,’’ he said. “Living in the Bay area, Dave Stewart once came and spoke to us, but we never had anything like this. It’s great for the kids to be able to have this.”

Like Sabathia, infielder Mike Rouse also had a blast with the kids.

“It really does bring things into perspective, and to be able to reach out in the smallest way is a big deal for these kids,” Rouse said.

Players were not the only ones on hand. Molly (Urbin) Peralta, who was a former standout athlete at Avon and now lives in Westlake with her husband Jhonny, was one of the wives on hand. For her, coming out and helping the kids put a smile on her face.

“It really puts life in perspective,” she said. “We don’t have kids yet, but the motherly instinct in me really came out. I enjoyed helping these kids pick out clothes and what they needed, and it was fun.”

Of course, the kids were tickled to have everyone there, and one of the funniest answers to the many questions posed to the players came from Byrd.

“How long would it take you to get 14 strikeouts in a game?” he was asked. Byrd smiled and said that would take about four games.