When Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm arrived at Citizens Bank Park to surprise the Angels with custom gloves, a staffer suggested he hide to capture the team’s reaction. Strahm knew better. To the Angels—a Newtown Square baseball team for adults with functional needs—he isn’t an All-Star reliever; he’s just Matt, a friend who attends their Sunday night games.
“As soon as the doors opened, a few of them walked in and just said, ‘Hi Matt’ and walked by,” Strahm recalled. “I’m another human to them. I’m no different than them, and they’re no different than me. I go and watch their games just like they watch my games.”
The Angels play every Sunday at Gable Park, competing with full uniforms, walk-up songs, and personalized bats. The games adhere to major league rules, with 90-foot bases and umpires.
Strahm’s involvement began in 2023. His agent, Allan Donato, helps coach the team, and after meeting some of the players, Strahm and his wife, Megan, decided to attend a game.
“Then we experienced it,” Strahm said. “It just captures you. And you want to be a part of it every Sunday.”
His support quickly grew. Strahm has since arranged for food trucks, paid for new fences, hosted a Christmas party, and gifted each player a custom belt like his own. When he asked what more he could do, Matt Catania, who now runs the league, insisted his presence was enough. But Strahm persisted.
“I said, ‘No, no. Don’t ask them that,’” Catania recalled. “Sure enough, my brothers Jimmy and Luke go, ‘We could really use a scoreboard.’ Matt just goes, ‘OK.’”
The league was founded in 2014 by Joe Catania so his sons could continue playing baseball after aging out of Little League’s Challenger Division. Shortly before his death from brain cancer in 2022, he asked his son Matt and Donato to keep the Angels going and to “make it bigger and better.”
“We just wanted to give these guys an outlet to play baseball,” Matt Catania said. “To see it grow, you can’t help but think about him. I just want to honor his legacy and his commitment to this community.”
Joe Catania’s vision was to use baseball to teach life lessons about practice, failure, and teamwork, all while playing by standard rules. A key moment came in the first game when a batter was called out at first base—a new concept for players accustomed to the Challenger Division, where outs aren’t recorded. The batter returned to the dugout, and the game continued.
“Dad walked up to me and said, ‘This might actually work,’” Catania remembered. “Dad was a strong believer that this community, they want to be challenged. Treat them like adults. Push them.”
For the Angels, Sundays became the highlight of the week. The league, which runs from May to November with winter practices, provides a vital social hub for players who have aged out of other programs.
“It’s incredible to see it and experience it,” said Richard Chamovitz, whose son, Kyle, is on the team. “There’s a confidence that comes from this. It’s not little-kid ball. It’s real ball, and they know they can do it. That carries through.”
Recently, Strahm made good on his promise. He rushed from a rain-delayed Phillies game to Gable Park to unveil a new scoreboard, co-funded by Baltimore Orioles player Ryan O’Hearn, another of Donato’s clients. The sign reads: “GABLE PARK HOME OF THE ANGELS.”
The support for the team extends beyond Strahm and O’Hearn. After seeing an Instagram post, former Phillie Cole Hamels visited and stayed for every game. When the team needed a fill-in pitcher, former Eagles quarterback A.J. Feeley volunteered.
“We’re not twisting their arms to be here,” Catania said. “They want to be here.”
Strahm’s donation of the scoreboard was done without fanfare or media alerts, a style his son said Joe Catania would have appreciated.
“It kills me that he’s missing this,” Matt Catania said of his father.
Pam DiMartini, whose son, Sonny, plays for the Angels, gently interjected. “He’s not,” she said.
Catania nodded. “I know. He showed us the way. It’s a simple game. Just keep it going. You can sit and dwell or you can honor him and keep going. That’s the choice we made.”
Source link
