CHICAGO -- Baltimore's RBI baseball team, in its first RBI World Series appearance, got a special phone call on Friday from O's manager Buck Showalter.
"Not sure where they were when I talked to them. They were a very attentive and loud group. Wanted to let them know how proud we were," Showalter said of the Baltimore club, which won its Junior Division (ages 13-15) Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship to head to the World Series in Cincinnati. "They were playing Chicago tomorrow, too. It was kind of ironic. Always fun keeping up with them."
The team will play in tournament games at Great American Ball Park, participate in a Workout Day Scouting Showcase with the MLB Scouting Bureau, participate in a community service event with Feed the Children and sit in on roundtable sessions featuring former Major Leaguers. Tournament games for the RBI World Series started Friday and should the team advance to the championship game on Monday, it will play at the P&G Cincinnati MLB Urban Youth Academy.
Orioles starter Yovani Gallardo is an RBI program alumnus (out of Fort Worth, Tex.) and played in the RBI World Series in 2003. This is the Baltimore RBI program's first World Series tournament appearance in its 24-year history.
"It's very important to a lot of people," Showalter said. "Pretty cool getting a chance to talk to them. I appreciate them taking the call."