Jan. 12, 2006

Reprinted with permission from NIH
By John Iler

When word got out that there were some Terrapins fans in the Clinical Center's pediatric unit, the University of Maryland baseball team decided to come meet with the young baseball aficionados. After just one visit, the patients found themselves with more than just a few signed baseballs--they had earned a fan club of their own. This special relationship between the "Terps" and the pediatric patients has become, as they say on the field, a hit.

Capt. Paul Jarosinski, a Commissioned Corps officer and a pediatric clinical pharmacist in the Clinical Center, was a key player in getting the team in touch with the pediatric unit. Jarosinski's son, Brian, is a student at the University of Maryland, where he also plays as an outfielder for the Terps.

The Terps personnel, dressed in their shirts and caps, sporting boxes of goodies, spent some time in the old playroom on the fourteenth floor of the Magnuson Center on the first of two visits so far.

"This has been so good for many of the patients," recreation therapist and event organizer Kristen Johnsen says. "Many of them are here for extended periods and it's a good break in their routine. You can see it in their faces when they get an autographed ball and talk to actual players. It's very exciting, even for me!"

"One patient just happened to be a baseball standout with significant potential to be a player himself before he got sick," Jarosinski says. "He waited for the guys, and when they arrived he talked to them some time about his own experience."

A few others had considerable baseball interests, while most were just happy to get caught up in the excitement of college baseball.

"Our players really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with the young patients and we'd like to come back and visit again," says head coach Terry Rupp. "We'd also like to invite as many as can attend to be our guests at our games because many of us want so much to give something back to the community. We look forward to continued relations with the hospital and patients."

Assistant coach Carmen Carone agrees. "It was a great experience! I think this is the first time the guys had visited a hospital in the area and I believe they had a wonderful time. Some told me it was great just to brighten the day of folks that are going through a tough time."

As for Jarosinski, the experience was a great success. "Seeing the faces of the kids light up at the opportunity to see these guys up close and take an autographed baseball or poster right from their hand--there are no words to describe it," Jarosinski says. "There was one youngster who was racing through the hallways and into one room after another to show off his baseball and telling everyone he was going to save that ball for the rest of his life."

"The funny thing," says Jarosinski, "is that I think the visit was a special moment for the players as well as the patients they visited. We had to restrict the number of players visiting due to space limitations in the patient care areas. However, the team has already requested to make future visits bringing players who could not previously make it."