By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Cal Ripken Jr. hoisted three-year-old Ryne Kimura
for a photo at last night's fund-raiser at Washington Place.
Ripken and Hideo Nomo greeted children and
posed for pictures with young and old.

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Baseball greats
go to bat for
the families
of Hawaii

Cal Ripken and Hideo Nomo
pitch for an island charity at
a Washington Place event

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Fireballer Hideo Nomo of the New York Mets pitched low-key words of thanks for Hawaii hospitality, and Baltimore Orioles ironman Cal Ripken Jr. swung from the heels with kind words as the superstars helped raise funds for Child and Family Service.

Joining about 300 Hawaii residents last evening at Washington Place to help raise approximately $25,000 for Child and Family Service, Nomo and Ripken mingled informally, graciously posing for pictures with young and old, including kids who benefit from Child and Family Service.

"There are kids for whom this is a dream come true to meet one of their heroes," said Geri Marullo, chief executive officer of Child and Family Service, which held the fund-raiser in conjunction with its 100th anniversary.

Ripken, who plays shortstop and third base for the Orioles, even got down on his knees for pictures with the youngest.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Baseball stars Cal Ripken Jr. and Hideo Nomo helped
at a fund-raiser last night to mark the 100th anniversary
of Child and Family Service. Posing with some of the
children were, in back from left, Gov. Ben Cayetano,
Sen. Norman Mizuguchi, Nomo, Ripken and
Mayor Jeremy Harris.

Nomo and Ripken are here for an international baseball training camp at the University of Hawaii that began Saturday and ends today, offering tips to 94 players aged 8-16.

Nomo, speaking through his translator and agent Don Nomura, told reporters that the goal of the camp is to enhance U.S.-Japan relationships and teach baseball to youngsters from Japan, Hawaii and the mainland.

"There's really nothing to tell kids how to blend in with each other," Nomo said. "They just blend in naturally."

Ripken said three trips to Japan on major league all-star teams taught him people there are crazy about baseball. An international training camp transcends baseball and allows cultural interaction, he said.

"People in Hawaii are so fantastic," Ripken added. "This (the fund-raiser) is a small way for me to join this cause and actually give back."

Ripken, 38, said he has some baseball left. "I still feel I'm competitive and want to play as long as I can."

He surpassed Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games in 1995 and ended his own record at 2,632 straight games on Sept. 20 because the streak, rather than the Oriole team, had become the focus, he said.

Ripken called Hawaii a perfect place to promote baseball and said he would like to see a true world series played here, adding that he doesn't see the training camp as short-term.

"We'd like to be in it for the long haul," he said. "I just want to thank all of you guys for all of your support and being no darned nice."