Photo By Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva | Maj. Mike McNamara (center left) and Col. Larry D. Nicholson (center right) do their...... read more read more
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by Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva
Regimental Combat Team 5
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Sept. 9, 2006) -- Marines in Iraq are slugging for home runs, thanks to a little help from the Seattle Mariners.
Seattle Mariners General Manager Bill Bavasi sent several sets of professional baseball gloves, bats, balls and even ball caps to Marines at Regimental Combat Team 5 here recently. The donation is giving Marines their own seventh-inning stretch from near-constant operations in the War on Terror in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Marines here, though, had a key man with access to the club's front office. Maj. Michael F. McNamara, a senior watch officer for the regiment, just happened to be lifelong friends with Bavasi. The idea had its roots in a chance discovery two years ago when McNamara was deployed to Camp Blue Diamond.
"I found a baseball near one of the hooches there," McNamara said. "It was a just a little league baseball, but everyone would come by my desk and they'd grab it just to feel that leather in their hands."
That prompted McNamara to send a note to Bavasi, with whom he used to be college roommates.
"I asked him to send me a dozen baseballs," McNamara said. "I've got this tourist attraction. He sent me three dozen baseballs, t-shirts and hats."
Fast-forward to 2006 and McNamara was deployed once again to Iraq. Bavasi offered to send baseball gear for Marines. McNamara never expected top-shelf gear, though. Bavasi ended up sending two-dozen professional quality gloves, three dozen baseballs and another two-dozen baseball bats, the same bats Major Leaguers use when they're up at that plate.
"Marines have never seen this kind of equipment," McNamara said. "They didn't have this gear in high school or college. I told them, 'Well, you're in the varsity now.'"
Bavasi said all the credit doesn't go to just the Mariners. He said a good friend Jim Hughes at Rawlings and Seattle Mariners' Equipment Manager Ted Walsh helped him round up the gear. Bavasi said this wasn't an official gesture on behalf of the ballclub, but a personal one.
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 09.20.2006 15:30 |
| Story ID: | 7791 |
| Location: | FALLUJAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 23 |
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