MIAMI -- Before Monday's T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Marlins Park, Marlins manager Don Mattingly met with a few lucky kids from his hometown.
The Mattingly Charities RBI baseball team playing in the All-Star Youth Classic, along with the T-Mobile Jr. Home Run Derby 14-and-under champion Brandon Juarez, met and took pictures with Mattingly during batting practice.
Both the team and Juarez are from Evansville, Ind., where Mattingly grew up and was drafted out of Reitz Memorial High School by the Yankees in 1979.
Juarez, who won the Jr. Home Run Derby Saturday morning, said he had never been on a plane before flying to Miami for the competition. He won and got to meet Mattingly.
Mattingly Baseball Charities was created to serve underprivileged youth by supporting programs that promote baseball and softball participation in conjunction with other developmentally related activities.