Ukraine national baseball team in New York City for charity games vs. NYPD and FDNY
NEW YORK -- The Ukraine national baseball team is in New York City for two games that reach far beyond the sport.
The games are playing a role in their country's very survival, CBS2's Kevin Rincon reported Thursday.
The crack of the bat is a welcome sound for these baseball players, whose lives have been upended by war.
"Family members on the frontline, or under bombing," said Roman Boiko, a player.
The team flew to the city this week to play a pair of charity games against the NYPD and FDNY. The money raised will help rebuild many of the fields that have been destroyed.
"The country is still fighting, but we understand that sometimes it's going to end and we will have our normal life," said Boiko.
While their hope is to help those back home, leaving wasn't easy. Russia launched a new round of bombings the day they left.
"It's hard because it's much easier to be there with everybody else," said Andrii Boiao, another player.
For now, the players' focus is on baseball. They went through drills at Empire on the Upper West Side, and were treated to burgers and hot dogs from Shake Shack to give them a taste of New York.
Empire Baseball has been helping to host the team while they're here, and it's not their first time pitching in. Over the summer, they went to Poland to help Ukrainian orphan refugees in Warsaw.
While there, kids were shown the basics, given essentials like bats and gloves, and treated to a momentary distraction. The help was made possible by donations collected here.
"It has been overwhelmingly emotional to see that support," said Jordan Baltimore, CEO of Empire Baseball.
The games this weekend are a chance for the team to play competitively for the first time in almost one year.
"People think that baseball is not alive and well in Ukraine, and I think people are going to be very, very pleasantly surprised," said Baltimore.
Also surprising is their flawless ability to trash talk their opponents while keeping a smile.
"Maybe a bit out of shape in baseball, but still good players," said Boiao.
Regardless of the score, the players say the support for the effort to defend their home is bigger than any win on the diamond.