Please pass over our sincere gratitude to all involved in organizing the trip of a lifetime for our boys to start with a delicious breakfast early in the morning, to continue with a variety of attractions and then challenging work – practice and baseball games – in the afternoon, and end up with a wash-up of the uniforms while the boys themselves are sound asleep in their beds.

The boys will never forget the games with their new friends, joyful American boys, the support and encouragement of the hosting parents, the meeting with the famous baseball players, devoted fans, and the breathtaking views of California, its lovely smells and the spirit of goodwill of its people. The parents of “the Lits” well understanding the value of their children’s experience feel they owe you a debt of gratitude that cannot be measured.

Vilnius LL also expresses genuine appreciation to the American colleagues and cherishes hopes of a successful collaborative work in the future.
May God bless us all.

Sincerely,
Virmidas Neverauskas

The trip was easy and going well. Just only one bag did not arrive in time. Marius still waiting for it.

Rapalas lost boarding pass in Frankfurt but was given new one immediately. All power outlets in airports’ waiting halls were busy charging PSP’s.

The most thank should go to you, Sam. It is you who explained to the Check-in lady our situation.  And, in
general, you made unforgettable experience to everybody of us during this event.

I don’t know yet how to make your stay in Lithuania even close to this. Anyway, looking forward to see you
here.

Rick Maher NMV Nationals manager and a host to two kids the first week agreed to drive his truck filled with bags, Ezio Petrella the DA drove his truck, plus John Rollins and I driving the vans. There was no empty space anywhere, we were filled to the gunnels. Arrive LAX at 2:00 p.m. and all checked in by 3:15 PM. We thankfully got the agent at United LAX who could not have been more helpful, Marla Wilson was a saint. She put us all in a separate area to check-in, did not worry about the bags that were a “little” over weight. We get to the end of the line for check-in, last kid is tiny Lucas Pupininkas. Somehow we and VN miscounted and we have three bags left — oh boy panic ensues as all the other bags have gone down the conveyer belt and are not retrievable. Marla looks at Lucas, “so you have three bags?,” proudly Lucas says “yes I do!!!” Marla says to him, “well young man you are way to cute to mess with, so you get to check in three bags, no extra charge for the third bag”. VN, Arnie and I would have kissed her on the spot if we could have gotten behind the counter, Lucas has the look on his face like this happens all the time to him, no big deal, no problem.

Walk them to the security line, high fives and hugs from all. It was a great experience for all here and I take to heart that every Lit. had the adventure of a lifetime.

Of course this visit could not have happened without the dedication, help and caring from literally hundreds of volunteers at all the leagues.

• The managers, coaches and players of the team that played the Lits.
• The host families, know that on occasion it was difficult, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
• Joleen Schafer, NMVLL, Betsy Gray NMVLL and Mamma-Shack, LRLL, for the organization of the hosts, the daily phone calls and emails and dealing I am sure with issues that I was never privvy to.
• Grant Mullen, President NMVLL, Matt Conover President LRLL, for stepping up and agreeing to be the host family leagues, and having the Presidential skill to anoint the three ladies already mentioned to be my go to folks.
• Matt for converting this missive to the blog everyday.
• The spectacular John Rollins for giving up your life for two weeks to be the van driver and Disneyland tour guide.
• Ezio Petrella, District Administrator California 68, who always has the kids at the forefront, who agreed to fight the battle to get them here.
• Jim Gertstenslager, Western Region Administrator, who said if EMEA blesses the trip, bring them here, you guys have my blessing.
• The EMEA Regional Director, Beata Kaszuba, who blessed the visit and signed the special games request.

Sure I have forgotten someone, probably many, but please know, that all involved made it the trip of a lifetime for these very special kids, from a very special place, who love the game we call our own.

Lastly if I may, I thank the wonderful Debra Griffith, who allowed me to disappear for 8 plus hours a day for two weeks, never complained when I crawled into the bed at 2 plus a.m. and had the alarm go off at 6 plus a.m. — she just rocks, married way over my head.

So they are on their way home, 19 hours or so, will miss them all, time for a nap, this is the end of an adventure that hopefully we get to enjoy again at some point.

Ed. note: On behalf of all the players, siblings, parents and friends who made a whole new set of friends and memories that will last forever — thank you to Sam Griffith — for having the vision, the patience, the persistence and most of all the love for the game that he knows is universal — from Eastern Europe to Orange County, the game of baseball is the spirit that unites…. MKC

At the LRLL fields at 11:30 a.m. for workout prior to the 1:00 PM game. After yesterday’s great showing, hoping they all truly do well as this is their last game with us. Warm-ups seem to go OK, not that many deep squats going on, so assume all is OK.

They played the Dodgers who are managed by Chad Lapes, the gentleman that helped VN with pants etc. One of the coaches is Brain Shackleford-also known as Shack-Daddy, Brian’s wife Rochelle, Mamma-Shack was my go to person for this weeks host families and she made sure that my train left the station on time.

Introductions by the announcer, each Lit given a red-white-blue and a red-green-yellow sweat band that the league had custom made, both teams wearing them, looked awesome. Four man umpire crew, water in the dugout, of course not ice cold. VN was also given three sets of LRLL all-star uniforms, truly look magnificent and know they will be worn with pride when they play at home.

All though they did not play at the level they did yesterday, they played well and held their own. Justinas Sabalys starts the game and throw 34 pitches, Edis Matusevicius in relief 10 pitches, Rapalas Petronis 41 pitches and game finished by Gerdas Palciukas with 2 pitches. Vykintas Kaziulis has a double and played brilliant shortstop, kid was a vacuum today. Kestas Vilimas played catcher today and had two throw outs on kids stealing second base, one of which was on a ball four, but no matter, the kid has a gun for an arm and got the runner out by three steps. Lits lose 9-2, but as said held their own.

Post game, Lits say good-bye to the NMV families that came out to watch the last day, hugs all around, what great folks that adopted each and every Lit. At 5:00 pm a pool party, BBQ with of course cheeseburgers and tons of other goodies. All the LRLL host families there with all their own plus the Lit kids, still amazes me how in such a short time, every one knows everyone.

Egle’s host Dad found a Russian deli, and purchased what the owner promised was also Lithuanian food for the extravaganza, Lithuanian bread, pickled herring, the garlic/artichoke spread on Lithuanian rye bread, delicious.

All back to their homes at 7:00 pm for the painful chore of packing. We are all meeting in the parking lot of the drop-off point so that VN can re-pack them all and assign them the extra bags that they are to claim to be their own when we check-in at Lufthansa. Plan is to have both 15 passenger vans, two pickup trucks and a large SUV fully loaded to get to the airport. Getting there is not going to be the big problem, it is getting it all on the plane that I fear will be a nightmare.

I had my usual major game at NMV and Arnie meanwhile did the bases for a Juniors game at NMV, from all reports he can call a game here anytime he wishes.

We meet in the usual parking lot for the drive out to Trabuco Canyon Little League (TCLL). Trabuco Canyon has special meaning to the Lits,they were sent a few years back TCLL all-star uniforms. They have worn these uniforms ever since for all “important” tournaments and in fact TCLL gave me a number of adult t-shirts to take over last year so the parents watching the games would also have TCLL logo clothing to wear to the games.

In the parking lot all the PSP’s are confiscated by VN, they will be returned when they board the plane home on Monday. We arrive at TCLL and this is truly a baseball paradise, fields are manicured, batting cages, soft toss specific areas, bull pens etc. and for those umpires reading this, an umpire only “shack” that is truly outstanding, couches, lockers etc.

Warm-ups appear to go well, kids far more focused today, attitude seems right, hustling for balls etc. TCLL of course does it up big. Lithuanian flag hanging on the back-stop, announcer has obviously been up half the night practicing the names, music played between innings, copy of all the music put on a CD for VN to take home, maybe we will never hear again Born Free and Send in the Clowns at the Utena ballpark. The water in the dugout has not been iced down, a small touch but one I noticed and appreciated. A huge turn out of fans to watch the game, would guess around 300 folks, a large Lit contingent plus host families from both NMV and LRLL to watch “their kids”.

The umpires are all announced and the Jeff Robinson and Rob Nen, both of whom had long and very successful MLB pitching careers. The umps and these two gentlemen go the mound and then each kid is introduced, Lits given a bag with a t-shirt, pin etc. all with TCLL logos, special stuff as they are TCLL in Europe. Both the Lit and the local player go to the mound and shake hands with the umps and the aforementioned MLB veterans. Both national anthems are played, Lit kids proudly sing along to the music. The Lits are to play Carolina managed by the President of TCLL, Ricardo Nieva, who gets what LL is all about and has a great organization of volunteers. The first five batters for Lit all hit the ball, no strike outs. With two outs, up comes Adomas, who strokes a clean double, he is standing on second base, I am next to the third base fence, close to VN in the third base coaches box, crowd is applauding and I yell out to Adomas, NO PSP, NO Strike OUT, DOUBLE. VN collapses in laughter, Adomas has the giggles on the base and is just beaming, he is a cool little guy.

Lits play like we all know they can and win the game 7-4. Post game all given the must have cheeseburgers, all sit in the stands with the team members that they just played, a true international coming together, great thing to see. One of the local folks of Lit heritage gave each kid a beautiful book all about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride that they all went on many time at Disneyland.

My esteemed District Administrator, Ezio Petrella, threw a party at 8:00 pm for the Lit adults, the Presidents of the Leagues, the host family adults at one of the famous eateries here Olemendes, tremendous Mexican food. John Rollins who you have seen mentioned in this missive, knows the owners and pulled off the party of parties. Seven piece band playing authentic Mexican music and food to die for. The party was a huge thank you for all that everyone did to pull off this adventure, and a great time was had by all.

Photo of VN, Cyndi Boatwright and Arnie at the dinner

Ana and Egilides celebrate Mexican Style!

Anne from Dublin who went with the team from Dublin, an eight hour drive from here, packed he husband and now 16 year old son in their car and drove down to see the team and Egle. Egle was her host Mom when in Lit., a very cool thing to do, know Egle was thrilled to see her.

Speeches by Ezio and myself and then VN spoke. He was very gracious in his thanks to all for pulling this all together and got emotional at times during his speech. Egle also spoke in her beautiful English about what this trip has meant to all the kids and the adults, truly a class act. Arnie repeated a story of when a reporter wanted to interview a couple of the kids and Arnie acted as translator. Neither kid heard what the other answered to the same question: “what has been the greatest part of your visit?” Both kids answered exactly the same, “it has been the people we have meet, everyone has been so very nice to us”. For an 11-12 year old kid to say this, just warms your heart, not the beach, not Disneyland, the greatest part of the adventure is the people.

On day 14 they will play their last game at 1:00 pm against LRLL this weeks host families, then to one the pool complexes within the community for a BBQ.

The two pictures above were sent to VN by a Mom back home to remind the kids what their field looks like, trust me having seen it, this is where they normally play. There is no mound and the base paths have just been worn into the ground with kids running to the bases over the years. She knows they are in baseball paradise here, and how lucky they are to be here, based on the comments I have heard at the fields and from the host families, we are lucky to have them here. There is only one true field in Lithuania, a 90 foot diamond in Utena, about a 2 hour drive from Vilnius where these kids hail from, hour and ten for VN.

I have been ratted out, this missive is being read by a Mom in Lithuania, a Mom whose son is one of the kids with a PSP. She emailed VN that the kids were staying up too late playing the thing, oh boy the meeting in the parking lot was not a happy one, the riot act has been read to them. She will remain anonymous as I do not want her kid being tormented by the others, but she is right, the kids are here to play baseball and have fun, but there are limits to the fun and with the lack of sleep they do not have the focus they need to play good baseball. When asked by VN who had stayed up until 3:00 a.m. only Adomas’s hand went up, proud of the kid, he took stepped up and took ownership for it, if VN had asked who stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. a few more hands would have gone up I am pretty sure.

Today a good number of them went to the aquarium in Long Beach, got the back area tours etc, petted the sting-rays, sharks, feed the otters and sea lions, from the reports I received in the van, truly an amazing experience.

A few others went to a local amusement place to ride go carts, rock climb, laser tag and play video games. A couple others shopping. VN, Arnie and I went to the local league and school supplier of uniforms and gear. Baseball pants are impossible to get, so we went on a shopping spree at Lapes Athletic Supply. Chad Lapes is truly a saint and gave VN incredible pricing on everything purchased and a gift of a full set of uniforms. How this is all getting home is beyond me, when asked VN just says, “Sam no problem it will all be fine,” of course I just shake my head. Even if it all makes it on the plane, how they are getting it from the airport to their homes will be a feat, the cars there are not close to the size here, have never seen a pick-up truck, he may have to use every single cab at the airport in Vilnius just for baggage.

They played one game tonight at San Juan Capistrano Little League (SJCLL) which, although the smallest in the number of kids within the district, still has an amazing amount of folks that truly care and take to heart that, “It’s all about the kids.” Of course they did a tremendous job, red-yellow-green balloons, four man umpire crew, the President of the league as the announcer, who did a very good job on just about all the names. The National Anthem sung by a young lady who just nailed it and then the Lithuanian national anthem played. Lit kids and adults I know truly appreciate the length that folks here have gone to make them feel welcome. A banner welcoming them to SJCLL hung from the fence, signed by all the kids they played that will go home with them and be hung in their in-door cage facility.

I would say that focus again tonight was an issue, they lost 9-3, but the errors they made were not their style of play and batting was not what we have become accustomed to. Beach day, Disneyland and the aforementioned PSP are the issues, mostly my fault for not spreading out the “most fun” days.

A number of things of note: For the home team, they have a young lady, Abby, that has played in the league for a number of years. She is just a gorgeous, she will be mortified if she sees this, young thing who is also an athletes athlete. Imagine there is not a sport or anything for that matter that she does not shine. She hits
the ball hard and everywhere, plays defense like nobodies business and pitched two innings with brilliant high velocity pitching. Nomeda was truly amazed to see Abby not only playing, but the studette of the team. Emilis Gorbaciovas is a new player for VN. I think he is having the time of his life, but as he is so new to the game, the game itself has been a struggle. He has had a number of walks this trip, but today was his day as far as I am concerned. His second at bat, he fouled one off, his first contact with the ball that I have seen and then was patient enough to get a walk. He reaches first base, next pitch sort of and barely gets away from the catcher, he takes off for second base and is safe by a nano-second. You can hear the collective intake of breath from all the Lits and the host families that attend every game and know all the kids. VN was almost about to get the CPR that the kids learned at the beach from lifeguard Nick. When
the umpire signals and yells safe, the Lits and the host parents just go bonkers, sure the locals are thinking what the heck, but also give polite applause. You could see yourself in the shine on Emilis’s face, he was as
proud as he could be, as we were for him, a great moment.

Like any volunteer organization, it takes folks to step up and take charge, One couple did this for SJCLL, organized the volunteers who put on a terrific meal for the kids, even had a cotton candy machine at the snack bar, Lits just loved it. This couple also donated two cases of catchers masks. They had sent emails out asking for used masks and were not happy with the result, so procured two cases of new masks, a truly magnificent gift that will effect a great many back home. Honored to have met them and am sure they have no clue what a tremendous experience they provided the Lits and how far their gift will help baseball in Lit.

Tomorrow another single game against Trabuco Canyon LL at 4:00 PM and then a dinner at 8:00 PM for the Lit adults and all that have helped pulled together this whole adventure.

I have found out thru the kid grapevine that yesterday’s loss is not all my fault. Four or five of them I believe have purchased a PSP, the Sony Playstation handheld game. The grapevine has it that some where up until 3:00 am playing the thing. It is fascinating to see that the ones that could never afford this game thing, there is no jealousy or envy, they just look over the should of the kid playing the thing, root him on or feel his pain when he loses, not sure that would happen here. Of course the game of choice is MLB baseball, they really are baseball junkies.

They will all be given their individual picture that they had with Rod Carew.  Charlie from All-Action Photo had them developed and Rod Carew has signed these also, sure these kids have no clue how truly special this is, he remains one of my heroes for going out of his way to make their visit special.

The absolute tremendous high, THE BEACH.

We arrive at the San Clemente Beach at 10:00 a.m. The chief lifeguard for the city of San Clemente is an umpire within District 68. He always said that when a team from Europe comes in let him know, and he would set up something special, Holy Cow did he go over the top. We arrive at the lifeguard headquarters and are met by Alyssa. She is just dynamite in every way. She welcomes all the Lits, explains to them what the day will be all about and off we go for the tour of the pier. The Lits all get to go up in the lifeguard tower, no one but no one ever gets to do this, I have never been allowed to do this. This is command central for the lifeguards, cameras, folks looking thru binoculars etc., radio command post etc. Lits just amazed at the technology just to keep swimmers safe. She takes them the rest of the way down the pier, introduces them to fishermen, etc., kids loved it.

Back to the headquarters where we meet lifeguard Nick, this young man is say 22, is the epitome of the Baywatch stud and he is immediately the Lits hero, the guy just looks like you would put your life in his hands and all would be right with the world. All get to sit in one of the beach jeeps, turn the bubble machine on top on, run the siren, talk on the radio etc. Attached to the jeep is a Seedoo that they use for rescues and one Lit is picked to sit on the Seedoo, don the helmet, the waterproof back-pack etc., son of a gun if he does not pick the Little Ed of the family of Ed’s, Edis is in his element, what a ham. All is going well until, Edis is told to raise his right arm to signal the rescue swimmer which way to jump off the back of the Seedoo, Edis of course raises his left arm, lifeguard Nick, says “dude your other right arm.” Rest of the Lits are on the ground laughing, Edis of course takes it all in good humor, but he is not a happy camper. They are then taught CPR, working on dummies, doing the breathing and doing the heart resuscitation, etc. They are then shown a 20 minute video of rescues, water safety, surfing etc. way cool. They also taught the signal for hang loose and are all saying “Kowabonga Dude,” have no clue how to translate this in Lit. but trust me with the accents, very funny. Each is given a San Clemente Lifeguards t-shirt, stickers etc. As said they went way over the top.

We head down the beach, Nick has wet suits for all, boogie boards and into the water they go. Expected Nick to be on the beach yelling instructions to them, but no, into the water he goes, helping them catch waves, talking them thru the right way to do it. He would give a Lit a push, they catch the wave ride it into shore, jump up throw their hands in the air, turn for the look of approval from Nick, he is beaming and giving the arms in the air congratulations, truly Nick is the new hero for these kids. The Lits are wearing the wet suits, but not Nick, after an hour the poor man comes out of the water just blue. Beach games, eating the lunches the host Mom’s packed, and then back in the water again. Finally at 2:30 PM. drag them out and head for the vans, convinced that all would have stayed in the 60 degree water until dark if we had let them.

Another high: San Clemente LL. This league is in it’s 55th year and has one of the great fields within the district. As said, 55 years old, on the top of a hill, ocean view, lights old time clubhouse, just a great place. The Lits are put into he first base dugout, so they will be the visiting team, the announcer is the play-by-play and public address announcer for Cal State Fullerton. Man was he good, got the names right, did it with gusto, brilliant. Red-yellow-green balloons on the Lit side, red-white-blue balloons on the home team side. Post game, a true Texas BBQ, pulled pork, chicken, beans not sure how to say delicious in Lit, but it was a tremendous meal. Kids talking to the home team during the meal about their baseball experiences etc, a true international coming together.

The Low: somehow I am sure it is my fault, the beach took it out of them, nothing they do is right defensively or batting, the lose to the Orioles 10-3. Orioles manager, again a class act, does all he can to make VN feel better about the game. If there is a highlight, Gerdes Palciukas pitched all six innings, only threw 79 pitches, but he was not helped by the team. Crab crawls the length of the field, deep knee squats, and push-ups after the game, not only did they not play well, but the attitude was very casual. Again, sure it is my fault.

Jeff, Bobby, Steve, Manny, yesterday Nomeda was taken out to buy a dress, yes a dress!!! Do not think any of us saw this coming, what happened to the little tomboy monkey that we all know and love. It is of course red, a variation of pink, but this is a day none of us expected.

First game against the Giants, as you all know, the first game has not been the Lits forte, but tonight, they jump on the ball, solid defense and are hitting the ball like nobody’s business. In the 4th inning the are ahead 11-2 and finish the game 14-8. Edis Matusevicius pitches very well and game is closed out by Vykintas Kaziulis, defense was better than we have seen in the first game so far, still issues, but a better display than has been the case previous nights. The NMV Giants manager very gracious, congratulates all the kids and VN, Giants players seem to be just as excited that the Lits win as the Lits are. With the Lits at the NMV fields all day last Saturday, every NMV kid knows them all, truly a great universal respect and admiration going both ways, which is for me what this adventure was and is all about.

For those that have called games in Europe, little Pupininkas is hit by a pitch just above the elbow, had to hurt, he heads for first holding his arm, umps have called time, VN checks on the little guy, yells to the dugout, one of the kids brings out the famous can of freeze spray, they spray his arm, he stays at first. I ask VN if the little munchkin is OK, he says, “yes he is fine, he wants to stay and run”, kid rocks.

Second game against the Nationals. The Nationals are the only undefeated team in NMV and have rocked all their opponents this year. Rick Mayer, the manager, was the host for both Nomeda and Gerdes last week, he and his wife Tia loved their Lits and it was more than a mutual love fest. The Nationals do not pitch their number one or two pitchers as they have a game later this week, but he throws the rest of his staff, this was not a give away game, taken seriously by both sides. Rick knows that VN really cares that his kids play well and brought the team here to face good competition, and if they win great, but if they lose but have played to the best abilities, VN is fine with that also. VN knows the Nationals reputation as the studs of NMV and was truly looking forward to playing them. Game goes back and forth, both teams playing well, in the fifth Lits ahead 5-3, Nationals have bases loaded, the stud hitter who jacked a three run home run in the first inning is up to bat. VN has Robertas Vilimas intentionally walk him, now 5-4, next batter strokes a double scoring two runs, Lits down 6-5. Now top of sixth, Lits start spraying the ball all over the field, go ahead 8-6. Rapalas Petronis, Egle’s son comes into pitch the sixth, allows one hit, but closes out the inning with some great defensive in back of him, Lits win, place goes nuts.

NMV kid’s had spring break last week when the Lits were with them, so not only the host families kids got to know the Lits, but since all were out of school all their buddies got to know the Lits also. Tons of kids all rooting for the Lits. Feel bad for the poor LRLL host kids, they are in school this week, so they rarely get to see their guests, some of the Lits are sleepers, so the host kid is out the door for school, and the Lit is at practice and then games before the host kid gets home, and the Lits are not getting back to the hosts homes before 10:00 PM, so host kid already in bed, bummer.

Gather there maybe a mass defection from school on Thursday so they can go to Disneyland with the Lits and for sure others are dumping school on Friday. Somehow, rules that would never ever be broken, are broken when they get very quickly to love their Lit guest.

Rapalas and Egle’s hosts this week, have taken to them in a big way. The host Dad since his kids are in school, took them today to Laguna and Newport Beach, toured the art galleries and had espresso, more for Egle than Rapalas. So it is Rapalas’s turn and they go to one of the local kids parks, video games etc plus go carts and wonder of wonders batting cages. Raplalas has no interest in go carts, batting cages of course for the typical Lit baseball junkie. The start in 40 MPH cage and when the host Dad ran out of tokens 45 minutes later, they are in the 80 MPH cage. Host Dad convinced that this was the cause of Rapalas hitting every thing that came his way today. When Rapalas takes the mound in the sixth inning of the second game, this normally reserved stress free Dad, looks like he is going to burst a blood vessel, pacing back and forth like an expectant father in the waiting room, game over he has to sit down and de-compress, the Lits have away of just getting under your skin, they are yours and you are as proud of them as you would be your very own, just a way cool thing for me to see.

Tomorrow, day with the San Clemente lifeguards at the beach and then one game against SCLL, San Clemente LL.

This missive is also now available at the following link: Orange County Register