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On Saturday morning, nearly 200 children aged 5 through 16 from the DC RBI program gathered at Nationals Park to learn the fundamentals of baseball from the Nationals coaching staff in the team's first youth clinic of the 2009 season. The clinic, sponsored by Smithfield, included stations on pitching, hitting, conditionining, injuries, base-running and infield and outfield drills.

"It's the fundamentals of the game that you really try to practice everyday and hone your skills to do what we call routine plays. Spectacular plays are going to happen. Home runs are going to happen. But in between there, you gotta do the little things and that's what the fundamentals are all about is learning the game the right way," said Nationals hitting coach Rick Eckstein, about the clinic's focus on teaching proper baseball fundamentals to the children. Eckstein helped to coordinate the coaches and stations for Saturday's event.

The program was open exclusively to children in DC RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities), a program designed to reach out to children in underserved communities to teach baseball and teamwork. "These kids don't have the resources. They don't have the kids of programs that maybe are afforded to some of the other kids in the metropolitan area," said Chartese Burnett, Vice President of Communications and Community Relations for the Nationals.

The clinic began at 10 a.m. when the children learned proper warm up and stretching techniques from Assistant Athletic Trainer Mike McGowan. They were then divided into groups by age and sent to one of five different stations.

With pitching coach Randy St. Claire and bullpen coach Randy Knorr, the kids worked on pitching out of the Nationals bullpen. The children practiced with enthusiasm, listening to St. Claire's advice and suggestions; several even managed to hit the strike zone.

In center field, Marquis Grissom and Julian Martinez taught the participants how to field base hits and fly balls. One chlid, a lefty, grinned from ear to ear when Grissom let him borrow his glove, even though it was for a right-hander.

In left field, the kids worked with Pat Listach and Jose Martinez on taking infield grounders and throwing to an imaginary first base. Grissom and Listach were tough teachers; both explained why learning the fundamentals in the infield and outfield are so important to becoming a good player.

Inside the visitors' dugout, the children got to take a break and have a Q&A session with Mike McGowan. The kids asked about injuries to Elijah Dukes, Jesus Flores, Anderson Hernandez and Roger Bernadina.

As a matter of fact, throughout the entire clinic, the participants showed a great deal of knowledge about and interest in the Washington Nationals, a positive sign for an organization trying to build a fanbase.

"Obviously, growing the sport is very important to us. It's important to fan development. It's important to grow young fans in this area especially because we have a lot of kids that missed baseball, in terms of having a professional baseball team. Having lost baseball here for over three decades, we have a challenge that is very unique to this ballclub for us to be able to do that," Burnett said.

In the final station of the clinic, the participants were taken to the batting cages where they worked on hitting with Rick Eckstein and Nilson Robledo. Eckstein explained how to have a good approach at the plate before allowing each of the kids to take swings off of a tee in the cages. Several children lit up with excitement when a participant pointed out that Ryan Zimmerman probably takes swings out of these same cages. The children then worked on base-running together as a big group before enjoying lunch, courtesy of Smithfield.

Christine Eppstein, Director of Community Affairs for Smithfield was delighted to be involved with such a worthwhile cause and stressed the company's great relationship with the Nationals. "We both, Smithfield and the Nationals, look for ways to give back to the community and we found a great way to merge what we both have to offer to make that happen." Smithfield has sponsored give-aways earlier this year and will have a lunchbox giveaway later this season.

"At Smithfield, we focus on initiatves that will help kids with their education or with anything that helps them be more active and healthier, so baseball is a perfect opportunity for us to get involved, especially with kids in the DC area. That's why we do it - to support stronger, healthier kids," said Eppstein.

Each participant was given a Nationals/Smithfield equipment bag and two tickets to Saturday night's game against the Orioles. After lunch, they were treated to a surprise visit from Roger Bernadina, who posed for pictures and signed autographs for the kids.

Toward the end of the clinic, Eckstein reflected on the importance of reaching out to young kids and giving them a Big League experience.

"As a young kid coming up playing, I never had the chance to go to a Major League stadium and participate in a baseball camp. So for them to be able to see what this is all about, the inner-workings of it, and participate in activities on the same field that we're going to play on tonight, that's exciting. It really gives them a little bit of a possible goal to shoot for, to work hard and to get better."

The Nationals will host five more youth baseball clinics throughout this season, including a youth softball clinic with members of Washington Glory, DC's Pro-FastPitch Professional Softball Team.