Sporting a Habit

BN.com -- When Sister Mary Assumpta decided to bake cookies for her favorite players on the Cleveland Indians, she never dreamed it would lead to being part of the team. But even the excitement of major-league baseball can't compare with the home run she hits with those who know her best.

Well, if you're a Cleveland Indians' fan, you may know that the Indians have the largest score board in baseball. And you certainly know about their huge 1995 World Series win. But you may not know who their very biggest fan is. It's nun other than Sister Mary Assumpta.

"How many people have their picture on a baseball card or a trading card other than sports figures?" says Sister Mary.

So just how did a nun get her own baseball card? Well, it all goes back to her childhood.

"My interest in baseball actually goes back to my mom. She was an invalid. She had a stroke six weeks after I was born and I spent a lot of time with her as a kid. She had grown up on the South Side of Chicago and was a White Sox fan. She used to listened to the games on the radio and score them, and I was always with her, so I just absorbed it."

So what started as a pastime became a life-long habit--no pun intended. Sister Mary's been an Cleveland Indian's fan for years, but the relationship really took off when she started baking for the players. The ensuing unexpected publicity for the team led to a cameo appearance on the big screen for Sister Mary.

"Being a part of "Major League" was a totally freak accident. I had my Indians' jacket on and one of the producers of the movie saw me. They were filming a crowd scene, so they invited me to be part of it."

And that exposure led to a sideline as an Indians' reporter for a local TV station.

"I thought, 'Why would anybody in their right mind want a nun to do baseball stories?' But people were interested in how do they get their uniforms clean? How many hot dogs do they sell, you know?"

And in case you were wondering, Sister Mary says the team sells a lot more hot dogs than she ever expected.

Now life can't be all baseball and photo ops, so you're probably wondering what her day job is. Sister Mary is the director of development at Jennings Hall, a nursing home in suburban Cleveland.

"Working with the elderly really became a calling for me. Even though I was a high school English teacher by profession, I would volunteer during the summers. It's been the passion of my life since."

A big part of her passion is making the residents at Jennings feel at home.

"One of the things that we did, there's color splashes on the walls to help the residents identify where their rooms are. We have memorabilia cabinets where they display some of their own stuff."

Each resident at Jennings has a large private room, a choice of meals in the dining room, the opportunity to plant flowers, go to the beauty shop, sit in a whirlpool, and enjoy one of three pets: April, Thumper, and everybody's favorite, Gilbert.

Gilbert has been quite well received at Jennings. So it's no wonder he feels very much at home. And, of course, there's been an Indians fan club at Jennings for years.

"The advantage of that is from April till October, the residents have something to talk about with the staff and with their families. We have parties where we all get together and watch the game and they root for their favorite players, and it's really a wholesome thing for them.

But Mary admits, when it comes down to it, her true passion is people. "I think I want to be most remembered for the ministry at the nursing home, the work we've done to make our nursing home a real home for the residents and the care that we've given to the residents in those final moments of life. That's the best part of my life.

Though Sister Mary's had a great time in the baseball limelight, she sees a higher purpose in it.

"I think God has been using it as a special ministry. I've been invited to do a lot of talks, particularly to young people. I think people have the image that nuns came out of ideal family situations where everybody was pious, and holy and when they hear that my mother died when I was young and my dad was an alcoholic (so there was a problem there), they go, 'Wow. And you still made something of yourself? And you still came out OK?' So they can, too.

"It's just amazing the crazy things that I've been able to do. I've had more fun than any nun should have."