The sound of laughter and joyous screams filled the Edinburg Baseball Stadium as children from the McAllen and Edinburg Boys and Girls Club participated in the Houston Astros CAREavan Thursday. This event allowed children from the club’s softball and baseball teams to have a one-on-one fundamentals clinic with four Major League Baseball players and the Broncs baseball team.
“Watching the pure joy on these kids faces and seeing them do these basic routines with love shows how much fun this sport is for them,” said Astros third baseman Jimmy Paredes.
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, relief pitcher Fernando Rodriguez, and Spanish language radio color commentator and former Astros catcher Alex Treviño rounded out the four MLBers to participate in the event.
Parents and advisers watched from the sidelines as children ran to different stations across the field. Each station was designated to teach basic techniques such as catching a fly ball, using the “alligator” technique to field a grounder and swinging a baseball bat.

“The most fun thing I did was hit the bat,” said Vianey Alvarez, a student at Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary in Edinburg. “I really like baseball, and want to play it when I get home.”
As the sun set over the stadium, children filed back into their respective buses with smiles on their tired but happy faces. Manny Mantrana, Broncs head coach, was proud of the interaction between the young children and the players teaching them. Mantrana hopes to keep the love of the sport alive with these young children by working on more events and clinics for the kids involved in the Boys and Girls Club.
But the children weren’t the only ones star-struck and excited by the Astros players’ arrival. Adrian De La Rosa, UTPA senior outfielder, was happy about the time spent with the major leaguers.
“Ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of being in the big leagues,” he said. “And whenever you get to meet a big leaguer it’s sort of a dream come true. It’s pretty fun when you get
that opportunity.”