Even though baseball is currently in its off-season, that doesn't mean that players are no longer active in the community. Members of the San Diego Padres recently teamed up with the local Armed Services YMCA to help military families pick out Christmas presents for their children, CBS affiliate KFMB reports.
The effort was part of the annual SuperParent Shopping Day, which has been hosted for the last 25 years. Organizers say that hundreds of military families showed up for the event, and Padres manager Bud Black discussed how much he enjoys the yearly tradition.
"It's great to see the expressions on the kids' faces as they come into these rooms and see the toys and the gifts, and the parents," Black told the news channel. "And for the players and I, and the coaches to go through this… it's a great event."
San Diego is home to one of the largest military communities in the United States, so it should be no surprise that the Padres are among the most active teams in the country when it comes to supporting the troops. In fact, in 1996 they became the first professional sports team to have an annual military appreciation day.