(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Major League Baseball today announced that Francisco Lindor,Cleveland Indians shortstop and All-Star Ambassador for the 90th Midsummer Classic in July, is starring in a new spot highlighting Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the official charitable partner of MLB. The bilingual creative in both English and Spanish, which also features narration by Boys & Girls Club alumni JB Smoove (English) and Mario Lopez (Spanish), debuted via MLB media channels (MLB Network, MLB.com and Social Media). The spot will also air throughout National MLB programming this season and in ballparks league-wide.
Lindor said: “As a kid, I was fortunate to have a lot of good people around me that assisted me with my development on and off the diamond. I will never forget those who helped me and will strive to give back and provide guidance to our youth in spirit of those who helped me on my journey. Youth are our future and an organization like Boys & Girls Club only brightens that future.”
Melanie LeGrande, Vice President of Social Responsibility, Major League Baseball said: “Francisco has devoted much of his time and energy to children throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, and he is the perfect representative of our sport in this effort with our great partners at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Like Boys & Girls Clubs, we also believe in launching great futures and supporting healthy communities, especially through baseball and softball as a tool for youth development. We are grateful for the decades-long partnership we have enjoyed with Boys & Girls Clubs, which includes local Clubs engaging and supporting two of our most prominent youth initiatives in PLAY BALL and the RBI program.”
Lindor has been active throughout his career so far in engaging with young people. Since 2017, he has visited with kids who participate in the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program and has hosted his own PLAY BALL event at his high school alma mater Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. Additionally, as part of the Puerto Rico Series in April 2018, Lindor ran a special clinic for approximately 250 youth at his former grammar school, Escuela Villa Marina in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. This effort was part of the “Players Going Home” program through the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, which gives players the opportunity to demonstrate their gratitude and appreciation to those who have helped them along their path to Major League success – in their hometowns and/or the places they now call home.
“The new spot is a grand slam and highlights how Major League Baseball and their players partner with Boys & Girls Clubs to create great futures for America's youth. Boys & Girls Clubs of America is especially grateful to MLB, the Cleveland Indians and Francisco Lindor for their early and ongoing support of the 2019 ‘Whatever it Takes’ campaign showing the myriad of things that Clubs do to help young people succeed in life,” said Jim Clark, President & CEO of Boys & Girls Club of America.
Now in its 23rd year as the official charity of MLB, Boys & Girls Clubs of America youth from around the country continue to play active roles in our jewel events, MLB All-Star and the World Series, in a variety of different ways. Through 2020, MLB has committed $2 million to renovating parts of one Boys & Girls Club in each MLB Club market, primarily focusing on teen center and playing fields connected to the Clubs. Boys & Girls Clubs have reached 4.7 million youth, including sites on US military bases, public housing and on Native American lands. Boys & Girls Clubs executed PLAY BALL events, including with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the “PLAY BALL Summer” effort throughout the year, and will continue to do so through 2020. In 2018, PLAY BALL programming reached tens of thousands of participants at 205 Boys & Girls Clubs and 22 military sites across the world, which included American Samoa, England, Italy and Japan.
Video link: English Version w/ JB Smoove Narration