CHICAGO – A baseball team from Chicago's South Side that has been battling its way through the Little League World Series is giving the city something to cheer about.
Hundreds of people who packed a watch party Saturday afternoon at a far South Side community center unleashed deafening roars as the Jackie Robinson West All Stars defeated a Las Vegas team in the U.S. final in Pennsylvania. With the 7-5 victory, the 11- and 12-year-olds from Jackie Robinson West will face South Korea in the championship game Sunday.
The Chicago team, made up of all black players, is making its first appearance in 31 years in the Little League World Series. But there's more than baseball at stake for some in a part of Chicago that has grappled with poverty, gang violence and the negative media attention those problems have drawn.
"It means a whole lot to the community and the kids. With all this violence going on, it gives them hope," said Sabrina Johnson, who was with her 8-year-old grandson, a baseball player in a church league.
Jeanette Baggett, 76, got out of her wheelchair when the team won. Later, she wiped tears from her eyes. "It's a dream come true," she said.
Retired city worker Mario Stinson said the team was a unifying force, noting that the players come from neighborhoods divided by gang violence.
"They're from Englewood, Rosewood, all over the place, and they can get together and bring a million people out to watch them," he said, adding that hopefully some gang members were taking note, too.
"These guys can't go two blocks without shooting somebody. They can learn from these kids," Stinson said.
