MAJOR LEAGUERS IN ACTION
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Meet the Action Team Players: Oakland Action Team

Talking with Oakland A’s Andrew Brown and Huston Street

Have you ever wondered what impresses Major League baseball players? After all, they routinely inspire amazement by their tremendous skill as pitchers, batters, and fielders. But what qualities do they see and admire in others?

Ask Andrew Brown and Huston Street, both pitchers for the Oakland A’s, and they both point to high school teens they work with on the Oakland Action Team.

“As a professional baseball player, I meet a lot of people,” says Street. “I’m impressed by the Action Team Captains – by their intelligence and leadership qualities. No matter what they’re doing, they are totally involved in it. They look you in the eye and demonstrate real commitment.”

For Brown, working with Oakland Action Team Captains on a literacy project last spring was a chance to see students’ organization and leadership skills up-close. “I was impressed by the job the Action Team Captains did on this event. We had hundreds of books to give away to school kids – and they had everything set up and ready to go.”

Taking Care of Oakland

	Huston Street

Both Brown and Street have been Action Team players since the Oakland Action Team was started two years ago. (Third baseman Eric Chavez is also an Action Team player. His participation has been curtailed because of injury.) From food collections to toy drives and book giveaways, Action Team Captains have zeroed in on the needs of the Oakland community – with the encouragement of Street and Brown.

“I urge all students to get involved to help in your own community,” says Street. “So often when people talk about helping others, it’s about flying off somewhere to volunteer. But look around you – there can be people right next to you who need help. When I talk with the Action Team Captains, I use the example of a baseball team. For the team to function, every player has to do his best in his own position. If we all take care of our own communities, then, community by community, our own states get better – and together, the entire country gets better.”

Making a Pitch for Reading

	Andrew Brown

For the spring literacy project, Oakland Action Team Captains sorted thousands of books donated to the local Volunteers of America organization, to go to Oakland children whose educations have been impacted by homelessness, incarceration of family members, or other traumas. To introduce the book giveaway, Brown spoke with some of the children about his favorite books and the importance of reading.

“I was home-schooled from the fourth grade, and reading was a big part of my education,” says Brown. “My mother collected three thousand books at home! I talked with the children about how reading expanded my mind and opened my imagination.”

Like all Major League Action Team players, Brown’s role is to support and encourage the Action Team Captains as they plan projects and recruit additional teen volunteers to help. “I always remind students that you never know what will touch another person’s life and change that person’s outlook. It can be little things that we often take for granted – like giving a child a book. And volunteering does have a chain-reaction effect. If you have the courage and ability to get it started, what you do can have a very big impact,” he adds.

“Along with using leadership skills, I see the Action Team Captains developing perseverance,” notes Brown. “It takes time and effort to plan a service project, recruit other teens to help, and then have everything well organized and ready to go. Once they decide on a project, the Action Team Captains don’t give up,” he confirms.

What It Means to “Make a Difference”

Each fall, Brown and Street welcome new Action Team Captains to Oakland’s McAfee Stadium for orientation activities. Come spring, they honor the Action Team Captains on the field with a recognition ceremony.

“My message to students is simple – we all have a responsibility in life to do the best we can and to use our talents to help others,” Street explains. “We talk a lot about ‘making a difference.’ But that’s exactly what you do when you volunteer. A person was one way before, and now that person is different – has more or just feels better – because of what you did as a volunteer,” he declares.

“People want to be happy – and happiness is infectious. Help make people happier and it spreads back to you,” Street adds. “There’s nothing like experiencing another person’s joy through something you’ve done. It’s cool to help others!”

Oakland A’s pitchers Huston Street (left) and Andrew Brown (right) honor Action Team Captains for their outstanding volunteerism on the field at the A’s McAfee Stadium last spring.