From June 9-11, Major League Baseball and its 30 teams celebrated the Play Ball initiative.

Play Ball Weekend is a global event intended to inspire participation in baseball and softball through activities hosted by MLB, MiLB and partner league clubs, as well as MLB’s international offices.

On June 11, the Padres and MLB hosted one of the largest Play Ball events of the weekend, hosting a free two-hour youth baseball clinic for more than 100 little leaguers by bringing a unique and larger-than-life baseball diamond design to a local field.

Just south of downtown San Diego in the Logan Heights neighborhood, this Play Ball initiative focused on turning a vacant lot in an underserved area into a playful diamond, titled "Superhero Field," for an impactful visual in an urban area.

To help with this event, MLB and the Padres turned to a swath of recognizable names both in the baseball and softball world. James Lowe, otherwise known as Coach Ballgame and an MLB ambassador who is a fixture in the youth baseball world, was in charge of running the clinic with his experienced coaching and fun-loving character. Supplementing the other Play Ball coaches were softball legend Jennie Finch and former Padres Greg Garcia and Carlos Hernandez.

Coach Ballgame started it all by getting to know the kids he was working with. With 100-plus kids and family members filling the bleachers, Lowe addressed the crowd in a fun-loving, easygoing manner with the intention of making baseball seem enjoyable. He asked for nicknames for selected kids, told stories of Roberto Clemente's impact as a player and member of the community and made the upcoming baseball clinic something to look forward to.

At its core, these events are designed for helping kids fall in love with the game of baseball and the San Diego-based event was no different, with Coach Ballgame setting that tone early. 

"I teach the love of play. I try to find the key to unlock each kid. How are they going to fall in love with this game?" said Lowe. "I think the main message is baseball is fun. Am I making them want to come back tomorrow? And am I building their character? It's not so much about creating a MLB player but I am teaching them to be a better big brother or sister, a better son or daughter to better serve their community."

Following remarks from Lowe and the other contingent of former professional athletes was an hour of fun on Superhero Field. Kids were split up into different groups to focus on different elements of the game of baseball, all the while being reinforced with the idea that this game is fun. They were throwing and hitting baseballs and running the bases with pure unadulterated joy. Even the rare rainy San Diego day, which cut the event short by about a half hour, didn't stop the kids from having a blast.

All the while, the kids were playing on a field that is, quite literally, a piece of art. In designing the field, MLB and the Padres turned to Geoff Gouveia, an artist with a portfolio that includes work for FIFA, Adidas and Starbucks, among many other projects. In designing Superhero Field, which looked like it came straight out of a Marvel comic book, Gouveia made his first artistic impact in the baseball and softball world. 

While Gouveia is a self-proclaimed soccer fanatic who's done a lot of work in that world, he also said that baseball is special to him. He found inspiration for the design of Superhero Field through imagery across the baseball world, citing fun Minor League Baseball teams as a big driver for this inspiration. That inspiration was clear with the abundance of colors and catchphrases plastered across the field. 

At the conclusion of the event, the impact it made on everybody involved was visibly noticeable. Kids were giddy from their time on the field yet exhausted from their work. Parents and family members couldn't help but have smiles on their faces throughout. Coaches, artists and other MLB employees could see all of their hard work culminating in an event doing what it was designed to do: bring joy in the game of baseball and softball to kids.