He sat front and center last Monday for a picture that is worth a thousand words \u2013 and could produce almost as many stories. Charlie Batch then made a quick exit from Grandview Golf Club just outside of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
The former Steelers quarterback had just spoken at an annual lunch gathering of legendary Western Pennsylvania high school football coaches. And he would have loved nothing more than to continue chatting with them. Some of the coaches were winning regional and state titles while he starred at nearby Steel Valley High School.<\/p>\n
But it was past 2 PM\/ET, and kids by the dozen would soon be streaming out of Best of The Batch Foundation headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the best crossing guard in Western Pennsylvania,\u201d Batch joked.<\/p>\n
Almost 30 years after starting a foundation in response to a senseless tragedy, Batch is more than making sure at-risk kids get home safely. He provides hope and opportunity through avenues that are not readily available to them.<\/p>\n
His foundation\u2019s summer program, for example, has more than 300 kids from 13 different school districts. It runs four days a week from 9:30 to 3 PM\/ET for eight weeks. And kids get more than just a safe space and nutritional meals at the Best of Batch Foundation\u2019s \u201cclubhouse.\u201d They receive encouragement and mentorship, especially when it comes to education.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s as simple as getting a kid to read that first book.<\/p>\n
Danielle Batch has to be smiling down on all of them, especially her big brother. Charlie was playing at Eastern Michigan University when Danielle was gunned down at the age of 17 for being in the wrong place at the wrong time in their native Homestead.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was caught in the crossfire between rival gangs and the guy that she was with used her as a body shield,\u201d Batch said. \u201cI said at the particular point if I was ever in position to give back I would.\u201d<\/p>\n
He started his foundation in Detroit after the Lions picked him in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. It took off after he signed with his hometown Steelers in 2002. In 2025, more than a decade after he beat the Baltimore Ravens<\/a> in his final NFL game, Batch said his foundation served almost 4,000 kids.<\/p>\n What also drives Batch is an opportunity he did not get as a youngster. Inexplicably, and sadly, Homestead \u2014 of Homestead Grays, Josh Gibson and Negro League fame \u2013 did not have a little league baseball program while Batch was coming of age in a borough that struggled economically after Pittsburgh\u2019s steel industry collapsed.<\/p>\n That explains why he could never do something that is both fundamental in baseball and fundamental to a quarterback\u2019s well-being: slide. The Lions went as far as bringing someone in to teach Batch to slide after he broke a couple of ribs when getting drilled from behind on a scramble. Alas, it was a relief pitcher, and relief pitchers run the bases as often as kids order broccoli.<\/p>\n Basketball, not baseball, offers the best portal into the Batch Foundation\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n A summer league became one of its staples, providing hundreds of kids with structure through regular practices and games. And it came with a catch: if they didn\u2019t buy into basic educational requirements, they didn\u2019t play.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate goal was to get these kids to pay attention to a book in the summer. \u2018Come play basketball. Oh, by the way you need to attend four mandatory study halls and read a book,\u2019\u201d Batch said.<\/p>\n