Elliott: Etobicoke Eagles, Etobicoke Rangers and Votto a family
Ten Etobicoke Rangers seniors and 10 Etobicoke Eagles gather at the end of practice. The Rangers helped tutor the Eagles for the Ontario Special Olympics.. Each team learned from the other.
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
The Etobicoke Rangers looked for the most famous Ranger of all for help buying new uniforms: Joey Votto.
The Rangers new jerseys uniform project was fully funded by Votto, the most famous Etobicoke Ranger grad of them all. In March, the Rangers alumni decided to buy new jerseys for the 2018 team.
Ex-Ranger Mike (The General) Gauthier works in Sussex, Wisc. for the Trico Corporation, half an hour north of Milwaukee. This all began when Gauthier contacted Votto asking if Votto had a Rawlings contact that the Rangers could work with to potentially reduce cost.
Votto and Gauthier touched base, exchanged ideas and Votto had an Idea. He offered to pay for the jerseys, asking in return for the Rangers to pay it forward and do volunteer work in the community. After thrashing through a number of ideas the Rangers and the Ontario Special Olympics Etobicoke Eagles joined forces.
“I wanted the players to connect with their community,” said Votto from Cincinnati. “The Etobicoke Rangers are home to me. I was raised in their system and look back with great fondness.”
Players from the Rangers senior team spent every Tuesday night this summer helping out with the Eagles. The two teams worked together on fundamental drills and then played a fun game at the end of each night.
“The first workout with the Eagles on Tuesday was AWESOME," said 1B AJ Iafrate, who co-ordinnated the event. "We had a great time and so did the athletes. They can all play but we need to help them sharpen their fundamentals. At the conclusion of the practice, we were overwhelmed with the amount of positive feedback and appreciation we received from players, coaches and parents. Not just because we were there, but because they saw great results.
"The coaches mentioned to us that they had never seen the players hit or field so well before. It was a great first practice and experience for all of us.”
Pizza and pops were brought in for everyone during the last night of the great initiative.
The Rangers alumni collected 500 lbs of food to be delivered to the Daily Bread Food Bank.
Rangers also donated 500 pounds of food to the Daily Bread Food Bank collected at the Ranger Family Day at Connorvale Park in June. And as the saying goes ... a good time was had by all.
Gen. Mike Gauthier might be south of the border but he has spent a lot of time on the Baseball Canada web site. He's been able to watch:
_ LHP Connor O'Halloran pitched 4 2/3 innings as Ontario beat British Columbia 9-5 to win gold at the Canada Cup in Moncton.Connor is the son of Gauthier's former teammate and ex-major leaguer Greg O'Halloran.
_ And he watched coach Denny Berni's Etobicoke Rangers team lose 5-4 to the London Badgers at the 18U nationals in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Karen Breitner and family with sons Kevin, Kyle and grand daughter Jadyn were presented with the last worn jersey of manager Whitey Breitner.
The 2018 Rangers presented the Breitner family with the framed last jersey worn by manager Whitey Breitner to wife Karen, along with son Kevin, Kyle and grand daughter Jadyn.
Votto could have written a check -- and he did -- but first he suggested that the Rangers get more involved in the community
The uniforms fit OK as the Rangers edged Greg Cranker’s Erindale Cardinals 2-1 to win the COBA Major league final.
It was a win for the Eagles.
It was a win for the Rangers.
It was win for everyone involved. All because of Votto’s suggestion.