Adam Rosales of the Oakland A's Takes to Sandlots Across U.S. to Spread Joy of Baseball and Education

To honor his father’s dedication to both education and baseball, Major Leaguer Adam Rosales of the Oakland Athletics founded a program called “Sandlot Nation” while he was with the San Diego Padres in 2016. The program complements Rosales’ instructional organization ‘Baseball Utility,’ which seeks to grow the game of baseball with local youth while teaching sportsmanship and respect for the game.

“You look around and funding for sports in school is falling off, in some places up to 30 percent,” Rosales said in April at a Sandlot Nation event in McKinney, Texas. “When I looked around at what I could do, I hit on this. I don’t want to see baseball relegated to becoming just a club sport. I think it’s a necessary thing to have in school.”

While Rosales bounces all over the infield, his baseball roots are firmly entrenched from his father Will, who immigrated from Mexico as a kid 60 years ago and relocated down the street from Chicago’s famed Wrigley Field. Despite developing a passion for baseball, Will viewed an education as just as much a priority for his son as baseball.

Sandlot Nation events, which coincide with Rosales’ travel schedule with the Athletics, bring kids together to talk about baseball, and stress the importance of education and having fun on the field.

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