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Former Major Leaguers to Teach Baseball Skills at Free Clinic

By Paul Biasco | August 4, 2014 7:17am
 Bill Madlock instructs young baseball players at Oz Park.
Bill Madlock instructs young baseball players at Oz Park.
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Lincoln Park Baseball Academy

LINCOLN PARK — Neighborhood kids will have a chance to shag balls from former Major League Baseball pros Monday during a free clinic at Oz Park.

The clinic, which is being put on by the the MLB Alumni Association, will feature eight former pros.

Expected to attend are former Cubs Bill "Soup" Campbell (1982-83), Gene Hiser (1971-75), Jody Gerut (2005) and Tim Stoddard (1984). Stoddard also played for the White Sox in his rookie year, 1975.  Jack Perconte, who played for the White Sox in 1986, is also expected to attend, as is Wes Chamberlain and former All-Star pitcher Buzz Capra.

The event is open to boys and girls ages six to 16.

"The kids aren't going to know most of them, but the parents sure are," said Steve Borg, Lincoln Park Baseball Academy president and assistant coach on the Lincoln Park High School varsity baseball team.

Participants will take place in eight stations, each run by a former pro, and will finish with a talk on life skills and an autograph session.

The stations will focus on a different area of the game, including fielding, pitching, bunting, hitting, infield, outfield, throwing and base running.

Borg, who helped organized the event, said he hopes the event will inspire children in the neighborhood.

"That's our goal, to keep working with the young kids as they get older," he said. "Grooming them and then seeing them play ball at the high school level."

Former Cubs third baseman Bill Madlock recently visited the Lincoln Park Baseball Academy and the event was such a success that Borg said he wanted to expand on it.

That's when he found the MLB Alumni Association's Legend for Youth Clinics.

"I thought, 'Nothing like this has been done in Chicago, let's see what we can do to get it done,'" Borg said.

The organizers expect about 200 kids to attend the clinic, which will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at Oz Park, 2021 N. Burling St.

Registration is required at www.baseballalumni.com.

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