SEATTLE -- There were a few extra Guardians on the field ahead of the second game of Cleveland’s series at T-Mobile Park on Saturday, thanks to some luck in the summer schedule.
Manager Stephen Vogt, who began his coaching career with the Mariners, still calls Olympia, Wash., home, making this weekend’s series a homecoming -- which happened to overlap perfectly with Father’s Day.
“I love coming here,” he said. “Get to spend some time with my family, and come home.”
But he didn’t just bring his sons, Clark and Bennett. (His wife Alyssa had taken their daughter, Payton, to a softball tournament in Portland.) Saturday, he invited their Little League team to the park, so while Vogt’s Guardians took batting practice, the Capitol Little League Guardians -- sorry, that’s the Majors Champion Capitol Little League Guardians -- watched it all from in front of the dugout.
Multiple Guardians took the time to come over, talk and sign balls and caps for the Little Leaguers, affectionately dubbed the “Baby Guards.”
The outing, one the Baby Guards certainly won’t forget, also lined up with MLB’s PLAY BALL Weekend, which aims to increase participation in youth baseball and softball.
“Baseball is such a beautiful sport for kids to play and learn,” Vogt said. “There’s so much to learn from the game of baseball about life. We need more kids playing, we need to continue to find more opportunities to get people playing baseball. I love what MLB is doing to try to push for youth sports and youth baseball.”