DENVER—As you drive by Sonny Lawson Park near downtown Denver you might not be surprised to see a ball game in progress. But you might be surprised who’s playing.
Joe Carabello says his crazy idea came to him when he was driving by the park last summer.
“The ball field was empty, around it was a ring of field encampments of homeless. I thought there was too much irony, and we ought to put these two things together,” Carabello said.
So he paid to rent the field and invited the homeless to play ball.
Carabello is a commercial real estate broker. But here he serves as cheerleader and manager for both teams. He plays ball in the Colorado Senior Softball Association, and players in that league donated gloves, bats and softballs. He used some of the balls to spread word about the games, writing the day, time and location on them and handing them out to any homeless person he found. He also let people know through churches and neighborhood groups. About 10 to 20 homeless players show up each week.
Of all the players who are homeless, one who goes by the name of Schmitty Schmidt stands out for his constant chatter.
“You’ll hear him for the next hour and 15 minutes. He’s a character,” Carabello said.
The 31-year-old Schmidt played baseball, softball and football as a kid in Colorado Springs, and he’s still in good shape. He says the games give him a chance to escape his reality.
“This is freedom. You’re young again. You have something to believe in, something to do today. I like it,” Schmidt said.
In addition to the homeless, the players include volunteers like Carabello’s brother, Tim, and son, Zeb, as well as some staff from a nearby agency that helps the homeless. A few people who live in the neighborhood—like Erica Gaston—also decided to play ball.
“I was leaving the house on my way to library, looked like they were having fun, so I thought I would spend some time with my neighbors,” Gaston said.
About a dozen people watch from the bleachers. A few have heard about the games and show up to cheer, donate money and share baked goods. The stands also include a few homeless people, like Russell Chambers.
“Oh, this is fantastic. You’re bringing in a lot of people from different backgrounds around here. Some homeless people, some people that want to volunteer, members of the community,” Chambers said. “This is what this is supposed to be about anyway. Just a gathering of different parts of the community.”
Before a recent game, Carabello handed Chambers a bag of clothes because of a conversation they had a week earlier.
“This is a gentleman who made a really poignant comment to me,” Carabello said. “I said, ‘Russell, why aren’t you playing today?’ And he said, ‘These are only clean clothes I have, and I have an appointment later today.’ So he sat out. He was looking for a daytime job I think. I just made a mental note we had to beef up his wardrobe a little bit.”
Chambers is wearing a ball cap that covers his mostly gray hair but he’s still not in the lineup. He’s resting from hauling his belongings on his back.
“I’m a little dinged up from the backpack I’ve been carrying. My left shoulder is kind of nagging me a little bit,” Chambers said.
He and the other fans watch as a few good plays are made. But errors outnumber hits.
“We’re going to set back baseball 50 years,” Carabello said.
As the game unfolds, it becomes harder to tell the homeless from those who aren’t. Maybe that’s the point. For at least a few innings every week.
