Growing up in rough-and-tumble Oakland, Jimmy Rollins can remember the first time he interacted with professional ballplayers in an intimate setting.
Rollins can tell you when and where it was.
"The Oakland A's actually put on a clinic," Rollins said. "I only went once though. It was at Greenland Field. That was my first year playing ball. It was like 'Heck, yeah, I wanna go.'
"They came out to where we played and we got to learn a few things. I'll never forget the green and yellow coming out to us and what it meant."
He just can't tell you which players attended. He would have remembered if Rickey Henderson had been there. But that wasn't what was important.
Rollins was 8 years old then. Now 30, the Phillies' speedy shortstop says it is something he'll "always remember."
So when Rollins had the opportunity to join teammates Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard to teach underprivileged kids the fundamentals of baseball yesterday morning at Richie Ashburn Field in South Philly's FDR Park, he jumped at it.
It was the same MLB Players Association program that Rollins attended 22 years ago in California.
Despite the ominous rain clouds, more than 300 kids showed up yesterday - as part of a program called City Clinics - to learn important life lessons, baseball, and partake in a Q&A session with their baseball heroes.
"The most important thing is the lifetime memory," Rollins said. "For the kids that are going to play baseball, they're going to learn. I can't tell you anything I learned at that clinic. I just remember being there and the experience.
"But if someone is inspired to keep playing baseball because they saw Ryan Howard or Shane Victorino or myself, then it's a job well done."
Rollins and Howard stressed the need to work hard and stay focused. Victorino talked about the importance of a good education. The kids soaked it all in, with their eyes wide open in awe.
Although boys and girls, ages 6-16, would be too young to remember them during their playing days, a handful of former major leaguers were also on hand to provide additional instruction.
Dickie Noles, the former Phillie and member of the 1980 world championship team, was on hand with ex-major leaguers Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Steve Rogers, Willie Royster and others. Phillies reliever J.C. Romero was scheduled to attend but was busy nursing a strained left forearm that landed him on the 15-day disabled list.
But the real hit with the kids was Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson.
The fun and energetic Thompson, 50, wishes something like this existed when he was growing up in Washington, D.C.
"No, we didn't have anything close to this when we were growing up," Thompson said, as he joked with the youngsters about watching the ball and not butterflies. "I love working with kids. We put both life skills and baseball together. They got great opportunity to meet players and learn new things.
"They don't realize it yet. They will."
Rollins can attest to that. Maybe 22 years from now, one of these Philadelphia natives will have the same story to tell. *
Gallery: Roy Halladay
