Baseball Vols Use Day Off to Visit Children's Hospital
April 18, 2005 | Baseball
April 18, 2005
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Though the sun was shining full-force and temperatures neared 80 degrees Monday afternoon, a group of Tennessee baseball players chose to spend a rare off-day visiting with families and kids at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. The Volunteers spent time talking with children, signing autographs and spreading "Big Orange" cheer.
Fresh off a series win against then-No. 10-ranked Arkansas last weekend, Tennessee players Craig Cobb, Chris Howell, Jonathan Rapavi, Nicholas Kulp, Isaiah Newson and Alex Sink made room visits at Children's Hospital and handed out orange and white shakers.
"Being a student-athlete here at UT, I think it's important to take time to do things like this," Howell said. "It's nice to bring a smile to the kids' faces and make sure they have a better day."
One day after making a starting pitching appearance in Tennessee's series-clinching win over the Razorbacks, Knoxville native and former Farragut High School standout Cobb was glad to spend time with the children.
"It's great for everyone," Cobb said. "It's good for us because it helps us realize how fortunate we are, and it's good to brighten up the day for these kids. We enjoy doing it.
"This really puts things in perspective for us as student-athletes. We're fortunate to be out playing baseball everyday. Sometimes we might think we have it tough because we have to practice so much, but it really doesn't get much better than getting to play baseball everyday. That's a pretty good job, and this helps bring that into perspective."
ETCH Public Relations Specialist Jarrett Ellis expressed gratitude on behalf of the hospital, noting that both the children and the Tennessee student-athletes benefit from the time spent together.
"You never know, one day these players might have a child (treated) here," Ellis said. "These kids light up when they see someone walk in who's not wearing a white lab coat. It's just a really great thing, and I think the players get a lot from it as well.
"One parent got tears in her eyes when we gave her an autographed team poster, and that shows just how much these visits mean. All the things that UT and its student-athletes do in the community mean a lot, and we really appreciate the baseball team coming out."
Tennessee (25-10, 9-5 SEC) returns to the diamond Tuesday night when it hosts Tennessee Temple for a 7 p.m. contest at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Admission to Tuesday night's game is free and stadium gates will be open by 5 p.m.
