The River City Rascals (independent; Frontier League) will be the River City Wizards on Sept. 1, as the team honors longtime St. Louis coach Lonnie Maclin with an Ozzie Smith promotion.
Smith is a longtime friend of Maclin, who played in twelve games for the Cardinals in 1993. Maclin suffered a stroke back in January and the Rascals are asking the St. Louis baseball community to unite to show support for the longtime baseball coach.
“Lonnie has literally taught the game of baseball to hundreds of kids,” said Marty Stein, president of the St. Louis Metro Collegiate Baseball League. “Anyone who has met Lonnie, knows that he is always available to help kids, so this is our chance to help Lonnie.” $1.50 from every ticket sold will go to help with Maclin’s medical bills (he had no insurance).
Smith has given the Rascals permission to do a bobblehead, with the first 1,000 fans through the gates on September 1 receiving one. In addition, the Rascals will change their name for the night to the River City Wizards and every jersey will be autographed by Ozzie Smith and sold to raise funds for the cause.
“When Marty and I met with Mr. Smith and told him what we wanted to do, he agreed across the board,” said Rascals President John Kuhn. “He and Lonnie have known each other for a long time and he quickly gave his blessing on the both the bobblehead idea and the River City Wizards idea. We look forward to having Ozzie here with us to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.”
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