PLAYERS

Besides a hectic baseball schedule, the players and coaching staff put in over 100 hours of community service each season. They do everything from visiting day cares to speaking to groups about life choices. Players visit all different venues to meet fans and get to know the community they are playing for. The players have visited numerous nursing homes to talk with and spend time with the residents. They have participated in Bingo, taken walks around the location and played toss with some of the residents. The team also visits a number of day cares during the season. They play with the children, read books to them or just sit and talk with the youngsters at the day cares. Another popular location for the team to visit is day camps. The team will go to different day camps and spend the morning teaching the children how to swing a bat, throw a ball and catch a pop fly. This gives the camp participants a personal view of the players and lets them talk and interact with some of the people they watch and idolize. The players and coaches help put on the Peoria Chiefs youth baseball clinic, which has more than 70 participants each year. The clinic runs for three days and allows the players and the coaching staff to meet their young fans and teach them how to improve their game. “This is a great opportunity for us to give back to the community that does so much for us,” said Chiefs 2003 hitting coach Tony Diggs. “These kids are out here game after game cheering us on and through this camp we get to cheer them on.” Another re-occurring event is Theo’s Ice Cream’s American Cancer Society donation day. Each year three or four of the players spend their morning at Theo’s Ice Cream to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. They sign autographs and hand out free tickets while at the store. All of the donations collected for the autographs and tickets go to the American Cancer Society. All money that is brought in through Theo’s Ice Cream also goes to the American Cancer Society. Chiefs’ players make appearances at numerous schools throughout the early and late parts of the season. They have gone to reading days to read to students. They have talked to classes about how important it is to stay in school. They even attended a school-wide picnic where they played baseball with the children, signed autographs and then ate lunch with the students. To get more information about player appearances or to schedule one for your organization, please contact Camden Linstead via email or phone. (309) 680-4004. Please note that players are only available for appearances when the team is at home so check the 2008 schedule before calling. Thanks!!