Iguodala puts on quite a show at Lanphier

By MATT DANIELS
SJ-R STAFF WRITER
Used with permission from The State Journal Register
Originally published Sunday, August 05, 2007

Check out pictures from the softball game, courtesy of the the State Journal Register

Andre Iguodala said he always wanted to be like Ken Griffey Jr. growing up.

On Saturday night at Lanphier Park, the 23-year-old Iguodala acted just like him - and showed to an estimated crowd of 500 that if his NBA career doesn't work out, there's always slow-pitch softball for the Lanphier High School graduate.

Iguodala held his third annual charity-sporting event in Springfield on Saturday night, and _unlike the first two times where a basketball game was held, Iguodala and friends showed their skill on a baseball diamond.

Iguodala led his team of celebrity friends and Philadelphia 76ers teammates to a 16-8 win against the local media team, consisting of personalities from The State Journal-Register and local television and radio stations.

"We had a lot of fun out there," Iguodala said. "It surprised me sometimes when some guys hit the ball."

Iguodala did plenty of that.

His second at-bat produced the game's second home run, a solo shot over the center field fence to give his team a 6-0 lead.

Iguodala finished with four hits and led off every inning during the six-inning game.

Iguodala, who hit from the right side during his first at-bat, switched sides during the bottom of the second.

The change produced immediate results.

"I might try celebrity slow-pitch softball," Iguodala joked. "I had always tried to bat left-handed, so it just came natural."

Iguodala's team, filled with many of his 76ers teammates, including 2007 first-round draft pick Thaddeus Young, Steven Hunter and Louis Williams, took an early 5-0 lead in the game and cruised from there.

Other former basketball players with local ties on Iguodala's team were his brother, Frank, who played at Dayton from 2001 to 2004, and Rich McBride, a former teammate of Iguodala's at Lanphier who just finished his college career at Illinois this past March.

McBride didn't strike out in his first at-bat like Iguodala joked he would earlier in the week. McBride predicted he would strike out in his first-at-bat before the game but grounded out to the shortstop instead.

"I just need a couple warm-up swings," McBride said. "It's been about six, seven years (since I last swung a bat) in gym class. I was pretty decent back then."

But the final score wasn't what mattered on a night that was designed to raise money for Iguodala's Youth Foundation and for Springfield School District 186.

Iguodala had set a fundraising goal of $50,000 for his weeklong stay in Springfield but said he didn't have an estimate after the game.

With rainy weather off and on throughout the day in Springfield, the turnout wasn't as much as Iguodala had anticipated.

"I think some people didn't know whether to come out or not because they didn't know if it'd be raining ... but we still had an outcome, which is all that matters," Iguodala said. "We're just doing it for the foundation and keep trying to raise more money for the community."

Last year, Iguodala's basketball game raised nearly $45,000 for his foundation.