Lodi's Russ Lake honored for his decade of volunteering with the Junior Giants program

Mar. 30—A Lodi man was honored by the San Francisco Giants this week for his dedication to the city's youth, and his name will forever be enshrined with some of baseball's biggest names.

Russ Lake was inducted into the organization's Junior Giants Hall of Fame on Tuesday at the annual Play Ball Luncheon held at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

"It's pretty amazing," Lake said of the honor. "At first I was speechless, and I'm usually not speechless. But it started to sink in, and then I did some research on the Hall of Fame and saw some pretty big heavy hitters in there. I felt pretty special."

The Junior Giants Hall of Fame honors coaches and lead organizers who have helped to build the program, which was created by the Giants Community Fund 30 years ago.

Some of the big names that have been inducted into the program's Hall of Fame include Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy and Duane Kuiper.

Lake, his wife Susan and their daughter Kendall attended the organization's kick-off fundraising event with some 400 people.

"I really felt like the people there at the program took notice of what he's done," Susan Lake said. "They were all just so nice and supportive."

His involvement with the program began in 2014, when former City of Lodi Community Services manager Joseph Wood applied to bring the Junior Giants to the city as part of the Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention program.

Susan Lake was working in the city manager's office at the time, and told her husband Wood was looking for volunteers.

Russ Lake signed on as a volunteer coach the inaugural year, then became co-commissioner with Wood until his departure in 2017. He then took over as the program's lone commissioner until his retirement last season.

He said the city and Lodi Unified School District stepped up and supported the program to keep it alive over the last few years.

In a video presented at Tuesday's luncheon, Junior Giants coach Michelle Barrioneuvo-Mazzini said when she and her family first met Lake, he promised them the program was going to be a positive experience and it would enrich their lives.

"If a kid shows up and wants to be a Junior Giant, he's going to make it happen," she said. "Some of these kids may not even have certain role models in their life, and here's a person that is like, serving that purpose."

Since 2014, the Lodi Junior Giants program has helped about 3,200 children, Russ Lake said. About 55% of those students needed baseball gloves, and 26% identified as coming from families that make less than $25,000 a year, he said.

One of the children the program helped was Juliana Leal, who in Tuesday's luncheon video said Lake helped her realize her dream of pursuing a career in law.

Leal received a Harmon and Sue Burns Scholarship through the Junior Giants program, and is an ambassador for the program.

"I didn't really grow up having a father like that," she said. "To me, he's in another way, like a father I really didn't have. Sometimes we don't get those types of people who want to dedicate themselves to this community."

The Junior Giants program is more than giving children the opportunity to plat baseball, Lake said. The program also teaches them team work, confidence, integrity and leadership over the course of eight weeks.

While Lake knows baseball, he said he never played in an organized league growing up.

"I had a glove and a bat, and I played with the neighborhood kids at the park," he said. "But I didn't get into it because I felt a bit intimidated, that I wasn't as good as the other kids. As I got older, I was one of the kids that wasn't in a league. So when I see kids like that, who don't have the opportunity, I want to give it to them."

Some of Lake's fondest memories of the program include helping a youngster who was afraid to come outside gain confidence, and when a girl proclaimed she wouldn't bully other children during "Strike Out Bullying Week."

"We had a young player with special needs who couldn't straighten his wrists," Lake said. "And we had a coach that helped him by modifying his glove so he could play. I followed that coach's lead and did the same thing for a girl with cerebral palsy."

The Lodi Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department will be taking over the Lodi Junior Giants program, and although Lake retired as commissioner, he'll help out as a mentor this upcoming season.

Registration begins April 1, and those interested can visit tinyurl.com/JrGiantsReg to sign-up.

"Being invited to (the luncheon) and receiving an induction was a big honor," Lake said. "But just being in the room with that many like-minded people, it was pretty awesome."