GAGE PARK — The mayor saluted the Jackie Robinson West All-Stars as "America's team" Tuesday, but also said they belong to Chicago and represent the potential that lies in all the city's children.
"They have touched all of us, because we know that all of our kids have that potential," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a news conference in Gage Park.
The Morgan Park team claimed the U.S. championship in the Little League World Series last weekend before losing to South Korea in the international title game.
The mayor pointed to their homecoming Monday at their home Jackie Robinson Park as proof they are a product of the city and an example of the best Chicago has to offer, saying, "It's no accident that when the kids came home they came to the place they played, where the community was their village."
Yet he added that they are also shared by all Chicagoans, having told Al Jones, father of right fielder and hitting star Pierce Jones: "I know they're your kids, but do you mind if I share the joy that you're having?" According to the mayor, Jones replied, "No, I'm all for it."
Emanuel addressed the way the city embraced the team, saying, "I am so proud of the way you made sure that kids, yes, from Morgan Park are our kids. They are from Morgan Park. They're from one of the 77 neighborhoods that make up the City of Chicago. But when a child achieves something incredible, they're our children, and when a child is hurt or suffers, they're our children. There are no boundaries to our affection, our hopes and our dreams."
Yet he also tried not to seize the spotlight from the kids, saying, "We should take joy in what they've accomplished. Most important, they should take that joy, take stock."
Emanuel said the players offered a lesson to all. "I constantly am in awe," he said, "of their maturity, their poise, their character, their incredible sense of this moment that is beyond their years.
"You gotta sometimes take a step back and go, 'They're 12 and 11' " years old, he added.
A celebratory procession starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday will stretch from Morgan Park to Millennium Park, where the team will be cheered at a rally scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
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