Ben Zobrist and Sergio Romo - Bay Area Challenge -

Bay Area Challenge

California, we have a challenge for you! We arrived in your state today and are eagerly awaiting the 1^st and 2^nd of our Major League ballparks in Oakland and San Francisco. We will then move on to San Diego and then the Angels and Dodgers. That makes 5 teams and 5 ballparks. If you haven't read our blog until now, we are traveling to all 30 MLB stadiums and trying to find 30 sponsors for children through the great charitable organization Unbound, www.Unbound.org. We have partnered with Unbound and they have found 30 children with names similar to players or teams to represent the 30 teams they play for. So far we have 4 Washingtonians and Mariner's fans who have sponsored 4 Unbound children. Now it's your turn!

First up is Bengie to represent Ben Zobrist of the Oakland Athletics. Bengie is a 4 year old from Guatamala. He is eager to learn. He lives with his parents in a 1 room adobe home with a tin roof and a dirt floor. His mother is a maid and father works in a clothing factory as an operator but they struggle to meet the family's financial needs. Ben Zobrist is the Oakland Athletics 1^st baseman traded from Tampa Bay in January 2015. Zobrist often talks about his Christian faith, claiming that God helped him to realize he was supposed to play baseball. His former teammates claim he doesn't proselytize or judge others. He sounds like the perfect guy to represent little Bengie. Are you ready, Oakland fans to sponsor Bengie?

Bengie

Next up is Sergio. Sergio is from Bolivia. He is 2 years old and a joyful little boy. He loves playing with his stuffed animals. He lives with his mother and 2 siblings and they are caretaker's of their adobe home. His mother is an artisan who mostly works to provide nourishment for her children.

Sergio Romo is the San Francisco Giant's relief pitcher. * In 2010, he caught the ceremonial 1^st pitch before a home game. They won that night and the next, so it soon became his ritual. He caught pitches from Golfer Rory McIlroy, Carlos Santana and Colin Kaepernick who threw the ball at 87 miles per hour and made his hand sting. However, it was Ariel Gariano who got to him the most. She was 14 and dying of cancer when she stood on the mound scared and sobbing before her first pitch in June of 2012. Romo went out and gave her a pep talk and a hug to lift her spirits and as it turned out it worked the other way around. He caught her pitch and kept holding on by texting, letter writing and tweets in the final months of her life. Many Giants fans will remember his finest moment, the night he blew a fastball past Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera for the final out of the World Series 2 years ago. While the champagne was flowing in the victorious clubhouse, Romo found a quiet spot, and took our his phone to check on Ariel's failing health.

 * from Daniel Brown's story in the San Jose Mercury News Giant's Sergio Romo inspired a teen girl to keep fighting. Please see mercurynews.com for complete story. Sergio Romo also sounds like the perfect player to represent little Sergio.

Sergio

Okay, Bay Area, who will be first to step up to the plate to sponsor one of these children? Please learn more at our outreach page with unbound. www.unbound.org/MyOutreach/JodiJackP

If you see this and want to help, share with your friends to try to get these kids a sponsor.  Thank You!