Delcarmen, Stars, and South End Baseball
There’s a reason Manny Delcarmen’s name is being floated about a potential return to Boston, and that’s because you can never discount a favorite son returning home. The Hyde Park native and West Roxbury High School graduate was a second-round draft pick by Boston in 2000. The pick made Delcarmen the first draftee from a Boston public high school in 34 years and he made his big-league debut for the Sox on July 26, 2005 against the Rays in Tampa. Anything that Delcarmen would do from that point on would be closely watched by local inner-city kids, hoping to follow his path.
Delcarmen has roots in South End Baseball’s Boston Astros, an experience that he said, “…changed my life and this is the best program in Boston right now, and I hope it gets stronger.” He recently returned for a fundraiser on opening night 2009, an event that also drew former Astros players like Minnesota Twins prospect Juan Carlos Portes and Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn (who obviously was not an Astro). Everybody from Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd to Luis Tiant or Nate Robinson and CC Sabathia have been seen around South End Baseball events, whether they be fundraisers or the games themselves. It wasn’t always this high-profile, however, and despite the league’s small beginnings, South End Baseball has sprung so many great stories, on the diamond and away from it. Continue reading South End Baseball Success Stories: Delcarmen and Beyond »
Tags: Boston, CC Sabathia, Charity, Manny Delcarmen, South End Baseball
