Priest's love of baseball translates into scholarship funds

Published: 2005-10-19

DETROIT (CNS) -- Father Don Worthy loves many things about baseball: its simplicity, its link to a simpler time and its camaraderie. The senior priest at St. Philomena Parish in Detroit, a self-described baseball nut, has turned that love for the game into more than $1 million raised for local scholarship programs by arranging for celebrity guests and donations to events like the recent Father Vincent Welsh Memorial Dinner. Father Worthy has attended 175 World Series games over the years and has made some great friends through the sport -- players, managers and people like himself who share a love for the game. Growing up in Imlay City, Father Worthy, 72, spent all his free time as many other youngsters did in those days -- playing baseball or listening to the ballgame on the radio. "It was the thing a boy did," he said. "You packed your lunch bag and took it with you, and stayed out playing ball until it was dark."

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