Peña's Pals hosts kids with ties to Uvalde

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Astros have been supportive of the Uvalde, Texas, community since last year’s shooting at Robb Elementary, which claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers. Members of the front office, including owner Jim Crane, visited Uvalde last summer, and the team welcomed families of the victims to Minute Maid Park later in the season.

Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña kept the Uvalde outreach going by inviting three of the survivors, as well as two kids from the Astros Urban Youth Academy, to Minute Maid Park on Friday as part of his Peña’s Pals promotion. Each Friday home game, Peña invites five students who have shown good character and earned good grades to the ballpark and has them decorate a pair of white cleats he will wear in the game that night.

“The Astros' organization has been showing support since the first day with Uvalde, and it’s special to bring them out to enjoy the baseball game,” Peña said. “I know they came last year. I didn’t get a chance to hang out with them and introduce myself, but I know [Jose] Altuve did and Lance [McCullers Jr.] did. It’s special to do that.”

Peña said all of his Peña’s Pals groups have been special, but being able to bring smiles to some kids who have suffered a tremendous tragedy in Uvalde is extremely gratifying for him.

“I look forward to Fridays and meeting a new group of people, but this group is special,” he said. “They’re the definition of grit, resilience. I think they’ve had a bigger impact on me today than I have on them.”

How so?

“These kids have gone through so much and all we can do is show a little support,” he said. “We just want to do a little bit.”

The three students from Uvalde -- Miah Cerillo, Gilberto Mats and Kendall Olivarez -- joined with Astros Academy players Sho Futaka-Washington and Danielle Ward in designing the cleats and getting an up-close view of Astros batting practice, courtesy of Peña.

“Danielle, she was confident,” Peña joked. “She wanted a round of BP. She wanted to hit. She said she hits the ball harder than Yainer Diaz. We’ll have to invite her back and let her prove herself.”

Of the 19 children who lost their lives during the events in Uvalde, more than half were confirmed to have been involved with the Uvalde Little League program. Six were registered to play during the 2022 season. The Astros sent a contingent of players from the Urban Youth Academy to play Uvalde Little Leaguers earlier this year, including Futaka-Washington and Ward.

“These kids are about perseverance, being strong and staying strong, and it makes you keep things in perspective,” Peña said. “We are playing a game at the end of the day. We enjoy playing this game, but some people have overcome real-life situations.”

Paula Harris, the Astros’ senior vice president of community affairs and executive director of the Astros Foundation, said having the kids come to Minute Maid Park on National Gun Violence Awareness Day made the visit more impactful.

“We wanted to see smiles on faces, give them a hug and make sure Uvalde knows this community is here for them,” she said.