Astros pitcher Chris Sampson, outfielder Hunter Pence and catcher J.R. Towles spent much of the morning at The Children’s Hospital at Scott & White Memorial Hospital visiting patients.
Delaney, who has been in hospital since October, was more than willing to take on Pence in a game of Wii baseball, an interactive video game.
“You’re going down, Hunter,” one of his teammates told him.
When Pence was pitching, Delaney was quick to point out the speed of the pitch, especially when it seemed slow.
“She’s talking trash to me,” Pence told his teammates and Delaney’s mother and aunt, Mary Jordan and Stephanie Jordan.
Though she admitted not being familiar with the Astros, Delaney promised she’d watch their games during the upcoming season.Earlier, the Astros had spent some time with Mitchell Robinson, 18, of Fort Hood. The visit was requested by the Make a Wish Foundation.
Robinson was accompanied by his sister, Hannah, and his father, Scott.
“This means a lot to him … he’s really wanted to meet them,” Hannah said.
The athletes invited the Robinsons to come out to batting practice when the family gets to Houston.
“He loves the Astros,” Scott Robinson said about his son. “He’s been wanting to meet them for years.”
After autographing Mitchell’s hat, the baseball players went to the Child Life Playroom and met with a number of youngsters who were occupied in the miniature kitchen, brewing coffee and making hamburgers, chasing a basketball or just enjoying time away from their hospital room.
Michael Dzikaski, 3, fixed make-believe coffee for the Astros and whipped up a sandwich for himself.
Michael had been in the hospital since Monday recovering from pneumonia, according to his mother Crystal, a Fort Hood medic.
The athletes also visited with Dewanya Johnson of Killeen, hospitalized because of sickle cell anemia, and Stephen Campbell, 16, who was admitted Sunday for an emergency appendectomy.
“This is great whenever you can give back to the community … it makes you feel good,” Towles said of the hospital visit. “You want the best for these kids and hope they can get out real soon.”
Since being in the area, the players have had breakfast with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor athletes and visited Fort Hood, meeting the widow and daughter of Capt. Rowdy Inman, a Fort Hood soldier killed by a member of the Iraqi military on Dec. 26.
“They’re big Astros fans,” Gene Pemberton, Astros chaplain, said of the Inmans.
The players also saw a group of First Cav soldiers returning to Fort Hood after being deployed to Iraq.
“This has been a very meaningful trip,” Pemberton said.
jgibbs@temple-telegram.com
