Once again the North End Athletic Association’s Dodger baseball Program will host a game in the North End between the North End Dodgers and a team of similar age boys from Japan.
The Boston Red Sox US-Japan Baseball Exchange is an annual Red Sox Foundation funded and operated program that brings young Japanese youth to Boston for a 10-day exchange of baseball and culture. The Japanese coaches stay at the Harvard Club of Boston, and the boys stay with local host families where they are exposed to American family life – an experience that literally transforms their view of the world and their place in it. Every July, a program is scheduled that features baseball clinics and scrimmage games between a team from Japan and Boston’s 13-15 year old R.B.I. teams (Reviving Baseball in the Inner-city) along with visits to educational, cultural and historic attractions in Boston. Several years ago, the first games were held in Boston, and in its second year, the Exchange moved to Japan, where it was overseen there by former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. In its third year, the Exchange returned to Boston, and due to the devastating natural disasters in Japan, the Exchange has since been taking place in Boston.
This year, the North End’s game in the Exchange will take place on Wednesday, July 29th at Puopolo Park on Commercial Street. At 10 am, the Dodgers team of 13-15 year olds will participate with the Japanese team in a baseball clinic conducted by the Boston Park League. As in past years, all players will be split into smaller groups for specific instructional sessions, in rotation. At approximately 12 noon, a scrimmage game between the North End Dodgers and the team from Japan is scheduled to be played. At approximately 2 pm, following the game, is the annual ‘dip’ in the Mirabella Pool by all players from both teams, a tradition that is thus far exclusive to the North End in the Boston Red Sox US-Japan Baseball Exchange! A special thanks to former North Ender and former NEAA Major’s Commissioner and Coach Frank Iudiciani for all his help in organizing this event with the Red Sox Foundation.
