Baseball Open House

If you’re looking to do something fun and exciting this year, you might consider opening your home to guests. We’ve done it frequently in the past and the results have usually been wonderful. One instance when we opened our home was when we were members of the Frederick Keys Fan Club. We decided to rent our spare bedroom out to Keys players who would be in Frederick for the baseball season.

In the spring of 1999, we opened our home to one of the Orioles first-round draft picks. His name was Darnell McDonald and he was in his second season of professional baseball. Darnell was nineteen when he came to live with us. My son was thrilled to have another ball player staying in our home. 1999 was our fourth year to house players. We had watched them get promoted to the next level and we had also watched them as they were released from their contracts. But Darnell was not just another minor leaguer who had come to stay with us, during the course of that baseball season he became a big brother to my son and etched a special spot in my heart.

Everyone on the team had high expectations for Darnell. He was named high school football player of the year in the state of Colorado and he had received a full scholarship to play football at the University of Texas. In baseball, he was named Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year for 1997 and was a first-team high school All-American player. When the Orioles signed him, it was the highest signing bonus they had ever offered to a minor league player. His first year with the Delmarva Shorebirds, he batted .261 and had 35 stolen bases. But when Darnell came to Frederick, he struggled. He confided to me that God had humbled him that season. He struggled on the field and off the field.

But through all of the struggle, my son watched Darnell. He watched Darnell hold his head high and he saw him head to the field early each day and stay late after each game hoping to somehow improve his performance. Darnell and Timmy would play video games together and laugh. It was a growing time for both of them. They became good friends.

Darnell and Timmy stayed close through the years. We met Darnell’s fiancé and were thrilled when they got married. We’ve spent time with both of their little girls and have attended several family gatherings. Timmy has watched Darnell stick with his baseball career, through the highs and the lows, and Timmy was there at Fenway Park watching Darnell play in the big leagues this past summer. Both my boys, my son and my adopted baseball son, have grown up. It has been my joy to watch them; a joy that might never have occurred had we not opened our home many years ago.