The Big Picture: As Japanese as Apple Pie
August 28, 2009 |  by Greg Rienzi

Homewood’s baseball diamond turned field of dreams for a 15-and-under All-Star squad from Baltimore and a talented youth baseball team from Kawasaki, Japan. The July exhibition game (which Kawasaki won 17-1) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Sister Cities program between Charm City and its Japanese counterpart. “The players first met at Fort McHenry, and despite the fact that none of our kids spoke Japanese and none of their players spoke English, they quickly became friends,” says Team Baltimore manager Steve Duncan, who is also assistant coach for the Blue Jays baseball team. “They just all acted like buddies: arm wrestling and kidding around. As for the games, they were really classy. Great sportsmanship. It was a special experience for everyone involved.”