Matt Stillwell Announces Badges for Baseball Tour in Partnership with Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation

Pictured L to R: Chris Rubright (CRSF), Scott Swinson (CRSF), Matt Stillwell, Leah Valdez, LA Dodger Scott Van Slyke , Sgt. Chris Barreras (LASD), Sgt. John Mosquera (LASD) Photo credit: Los Angeles Dodgers

Nashville, TN- May 4, 2017 (Press Release) - Country music recording artist Matt Stillwell gave back to the youth community of Los Angeles last weekend on his first stop of the Badges For Baseball tour in partnership with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. Stillwell, along with 30 members of the LAPD, hosted 200 underprivileged children as part of a youth mentor program uniting police officers with children to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and today’s youth through the game of baseball.

“When I found out about the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation's Badges For Baseballprogram, I knew I had to be a part of it. They’ve been bringing kids and cops together through baseball for 12 years now, helping to bridge the gap of one of the most socially relevant issues we face in America today,” shares Stillwell. “Our hope at the end of the day is that when these kids see a cop, it’s a familiar face and not a scary one, and the same goes on the other end. Music and baseball are both fun and healing, and I want these kids and cops to experience both as much as possible.”

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The two-day event kicked off last Friday (4/28) with a Badges For Baseball training clinic for the children at Dodger Stadium. On Saturday (4/29), Stillwell, Ripken Foundation staff and members of the LAPD brought the Badges for Baseball curriculum, as well as Ripken Quickball, as part of the LA Dodger Foundation’s Dodger Day event at Belvedere Park. Quickball is a fast-paced, easy to learn version of baseball. The weekend closed with an on-field recognition ceremony where Stillwell sang the national anthem and participated in a check presentation made out for $5,000 to the LA Dodgers Foundation prior to the Dodgers' home game versus the Philadelphia Phillies that evening.

Stillwell continued on the Badges For Baseball tour this week making a stopMonday evening (5/1) in St. Louis, MO at the Matthew Dickey Boys & Girls Club for the youth training clinic. On Tuesday night (5/2), he performed a pregame concert at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium as part of the Budweiser Bow Tie Bar Concert with 93.7 The Bill before the St. Louis Cardinals took on the Milwaukee Brewers.

Preview behind-the-scenes footage from Badges For Baseball tour stops in LA and St. Louis  HERE.

The Badges For Baseball tour will continue this Spring/Summer serving the youth communities of Tampa, FL, Minneapolis, MN and Kansas City, MO making stops at the Tampa Rays’ Tropicana Field (May 19-20), the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field (July 17-18) and the Kansas City Royals’ Kauffman Stadium (Dates TBA).

For more information please visit: http://mattstillwell.net/badgesforbaseball/