MLB Umpires Laz Diaz and Bill Welke welcome Matt, Trinidad, Michael, and Jose to AT&T Park as a part of the BLUE Crew Tickets Program. Matt, Trinidad, Michael, and Jose are mentor/youth matches with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area.

GUEST COMMENT (Michael Sanchez) - "Many thanks to Laz Diaz and Bill Welke for hosting Jose and me and Matt and Trinidad (Big Brothers Big Sisters Bay Area) at the Giants vs. Rockies game on Sunday. Jose was wide-eyed as Laz and Bill greeted him and escorted him to the field to watch batting practice. The sound of the ball hitting a wooden bat was unique to Jose as Laz explained that big leaguers use a different type bat than little leaguers (aluminum). Then the umpires created a special meet and greet with Steve Finley of the Rockies and he introduced himself and gave hitting tips to the boys...he was great with the kids and it was unique to experience the professional relationship between player and umpire. Needless to say, they were excited to meet a big league player and we when returned to the umpires' room for a final goodbye, the umpires gave sound advice to the boys to stay in school, do their homework and work hard. To cap off the day, Steve Finley pinch hit in the later part of the game and hit a foul ball which I caught and presented to Jose as a memento of our day and capped off celebrating the one-year anniversary of our "Big" and "Little" relationship. Thank you for the wonderful experience!"

Want to make a difference in your community? Be a mentor like Matt and Michael!

THANK YOU! - Erin Reilly/Bobby Baksa (Giants Community Relations) and Neepa Patel/Dawn Kruger (Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area) for your role in making this a wonderful experience for everyone.

MORE Photos: 2007 BLUE Crew Ticket Photos
ABOUT Big Brothers Big Sisters: http://www.bbbs.org/

Labels: bbbs, crew, diaz, mlb, sf, welke

MLB Umpires Mark Wegner and Brian Runge welcome Mike, Ben, Luis, and Christopher to AT&T Park as a part of the BLUE Crew Tickets Program. Pictured (L-R) are Brian Runge, Mike, Ben, and Mark Wegner. Mike and Ben are a mentor/youth match with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area.

THANK YOU! - Erin Reilly and Bobby Baksa (San Francisco Giants Community Relations)

GUEST COMMENT: (Mike Baczynski) "Ben and I had a great time on Sunday at the Giants game...the only low point being that the Giants were beat by the Dodgers. The highlight of the day was getting to meet Mark Wegner before the game down by the umpires lounge after which he walked us up to the field level. We were also fortunate enough to meet fellow umpire Brian Runge who happened to be behind home plate that day (Mark was umpiring at 2nd). Mark was very good at answering our questions and we found out about how his career progressed to the Big Leagues. He was also interested in finding out about Ben and I and how we had progressed in our Big Brother relationship. All in all a good day, however, despite all of our pleadings to Mark and Brian to give us the "home field" calls, the Giants still weren't able to pull it out. Anyway, thanks again for the wonderful opportunity you presented to us...we will not soon forget it. "

MORE Photos: 2007 BLUE Crew Ticket Photos
ABOUT Big Brothers Big Sisters: www.bbbs.org

Labels: crew, mlb, runge, sf, wegner