Sports
Malverne Mud Hens Honor Youngest Arizona Shooting Victim
The youth baseball players pay tribute to Christina Taylor Green, who died during January shooting in Tuscon.
None of the Malverne Mud Hens ever met Christina Taylor Green. They never played against her, never pitched a ball to her and never shook her hand at the end of a game
At 9-years-old, she was the youngest victim of the January shooting in Tuscon, Ariz. that claimed the lives of six Americans including a federal judge and severely injured a U.S. Congresswoman.
The tragedy occurred more than 2,500 miles away from Mud Hens' hometown fields, but despite Green being a perfect stranger to the young athletes they still considered her a fellow player. That is why the members of Malverne's newest youth baseball league decided to pay tribute to her memory by wearing a memorial patch on the arm of their uniforms this season.
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Green's home team of Del Oro wishes that all Little League, softball and baseball teams across the country will eventually wear the patch, whose sales contribute to the Christina Taylor Green Memorial Fund. The Mud Hens, which formed last May, are among the teams who have already pledged their support.
“We saw an article on a local Little League team that was wearing the patches, so we bought them to help support [the foundation],” said Mud Hens manager and coach Kenneth Rung.
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"Absolutely every parent and every player were happy to do it,” Rung added.
Green’s link to the Mud Hens was her status as a fellow Little Leaguer (She was a second baseman and the only girl on her home team). However, her connection to all New Yorkers has existed since the day she was born. Her birthday was Sept. 11, 2001, and because of this she strove to be a force of good in this world.
“The mission statement of the Mud Hens is to instill into the children of the community the ideals of good sportsmanship, integrity, loyalty and courage, so that they may grow to be assets to their families, friends, and the community,” said Rung.
Despite Green’s life beginning and ending on two tragic days for Americans, the time she had between those dates was spent maintaining the very philosophy the Mud Hens uphold.
The Mud Hens will wear the patch for the remainder of the season. If you know of a team that would like to purchase patches, please visit cdobaseball.org. For every patch purchased, a dollar is donated to the Christina Taylor Green Memorial Fund.
