Garth Brooks to Wichita kids: It’s all about love (+videos)

For a few hours on Saturday, country music star Garth Brooks traded in his cowboy hat for a baseball cap.

As part of Brooks’ world tour, his Teammates for Kids Foundation and ProCamps partnered to host a baseball camp for about 40 Wichita kids, with the help of freshly minted Detroit Tigers pitcher and Wichita State University alumnus Mike Pelfrey and the WSU baseball team.

Perhaps the biggest lesson of the event – above the coaching tips and scrimmages – was love.

“It’s about loving the game. It’s about loving and respecting your teammates, your opponents. ... It’s especially about loving yourself,” Brooks told the kids.

Brooks, who sold out or nearly sold out six Wichita performances this weekend – including two Saturday evening – also talked to the kids about being part of a team.

“You’re going to get a lot further in life if you have help,” he said.

For Brooks, sports kept him interested in school long enough to realize he needed to stay in school.

Playing sports helps you learn to work with other people, set goals and boost your self-esteem, he said. Sports is an instant family.

Most of the kids at the camp are also in League 42, a local youth baseball program for ages 5 to 14 named in honor of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Some were also there through the United Way of Wichita and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Wichita.

“Our kids got a tremendous boost from this,” said Bob Lutz, chairman and founder of League 42 and sports columnist for The Eagle. Lutz said Pelfrey has been around League 42 kids before.

“It’s important for guys who have that level of success to give something back, and we’ve seen two really prime examples of that today.”

Thonia McPherson, 14, is in her second year of League 42. It has inspired her to play softball in high school next year. Her favorite part of Saturday’s camp was a relay race.

Malachi Ligon, 13, is in his third year of League 42. He wants to “go all the way” with baseball.

He particularly liked the camp on Saturday because he got to work with the WSU baseball team.

Their words of wisdom, he said, “gives you a mindset of what the real world will be like.”

And it’s important for kids to meet someone like Pelfrey, who is also from Wichita, Brooks said.

“Everyone has dreams they want to achieve. Practice. That’s the only way to do that,” Pelfrey told the kids.

“Any time you can have an opportunity to come and make some kids smile, make their day or weekend, that’s something you have to take advantage,” Pelfrey said later. “And I get to do it here in my hometown.”

Brooks, who played baseball in high school, had a brief stint in the minor leagues in the late 1990s after he became a country singer. He later did spring training with the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals, according to the MLB.

“If you haven’t seen me, I’m great,” he joked. Brooks even sported some black and gold attire, despite being an Oklahoma State alum and fan.

Jokes aside, Brooks came back to the topic of love when talking with media at the event.

“Love is the greatest weapon we have. It’s greater than any weapons of mass destruction. Love is what’s going to save us. What’s going on in the U.S., what’s going on in the world, the answer is love. We’ve got to figure it out.”

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Garth Brooks to Wichita kids: It’s all about love (+videos)."