BIG TRAIN'S 2024 BASE BALL & HOLIDAY AUCTION!

On Sunday November 17, 2024, more than 120 Big Train family and friends gathered at the KID Museum in downtown Bethesda to celebrate our victories on the field and our successes in the community in 2024 at our annual  Big Train Base Ball & Holiday Auction. 

With fine food from The Bean Bag Deli, a wonderful facility at the KID Museum, and generous sponsors and donors and auction bidders, we were able to raise more than $75,000. Our two Online Auctions raised an additional $16,000.

We had plenty of Big Train royalty in the house November 17 as head coach Sal Colangelo and his coaching staff were joined by alumni Matt Bowman (BT 2010-2011) and Jason Schiavone (BT 2022-2023). Bethesda Community Base Ball Club co-founder John Ourisman and long-time Big Train Booster Club chair Randy Schools were there to present awards we established in their names. We presented a replica of his Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League Hall of Fame plaque to Matt Bowman. John Ourisman presented mini-bats to the four new members of the John Ourisman Volunteer Honor Roll recognizing their five years of service as Big Train volunteers — Robert Hsu, Owen Meyer, Owen Lieber, and Liam Wagner. Randy Schools presented awards to the four newest recipients of the Randy Schools Big Train Outstanding Service Award: Assistant General Manager Patrick Chapman; Coach Bob O’Conor; Linda Hallman, Mike and Adrian Freeman, and FitBite Orthodontics (host family, board member, and season sponsor); and Lafayette Federal Credit Union. One hundred and one individuals and businesses have now received the Schools Award. ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian joined Matt Bowman, Bruce Adams, and Owen Lieber for a spirited conversation about the past, present, and future of baseball.

The Base Ball & Holiday Auction Fundraiser raises funds for our 2025 community service initiatives that will include our annual Clarence “Pint” Isreal Juneteenth Classic, our annual Roberto Clemente Community Service Day, our themed game nights that showcase Montgomery’s wonderful diversity, and our Community Heroes program where we provide 25 free meals and tickets to a different nonprofit community organization at each home game.

While baseball is our platform, building a stronger community is our purpose. Your donation will help us build a stronger community here in Montgomery County and in the greater Washington region.

THANK YOU for your support of Bethesda Big Train Baseball!