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Friday, April 25, 1997
Texas Rangers slugger donates money for youth
ballpark
DALLAS (AP) - Texas Rangers outfielder Juan Gonzalez hasn't
been able to play this season because of a thumb injury, but he's
helping make it possible for youngsters in the Oak Cliff section
of Dallas to play.
Gonzalez attended a ground breaking ceremony Wednesday for
a ballpark he and the Rangers are helping to build.
"I hope this will be a great inspiration for the people
of this area," said Gonzalez, last year's most valuable player
in the American League. He put up $50,000 to help make the park
a reality.
"There are kids born in this area who have dreams of playing
baseball and they have no place to go."
The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation will match Gonzalez's
gift to pay for construction of the Juan Gonzalez/Texas Rangers
Youth Ballpark. The facility at city-owned Bushman Park will include
bleachers and a concession stand.
The ballpark, expected to be completed by late summer, will
be the fourth built by the Rangers Foundation.
The city will chip in $40,000 to install lights for night games
and will maintain the park.
"I think this is great to have because it will keep more
kids off of the streets," said 11-year-old Charles Hatley,
a fifth-grader at nearby W.W. Bushman Elementary School. "Maybe
one day someone will go to the pros and be like Juan." Send
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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