BOSTON – As Red Sox stars signed autographs at Fenway Park for four Edward Little students, infielder Alex Cora told his fans he used to be a Boy Scout. Today, he volunteers in his home community.

“You feel so good about yourself,” a smiling Cora said while players behind him warmed up for a game against the Detroit Tigers. “Volunteering is awesome.”

The four students – seniors John Alexander and Brittney Turcotte and juniors Adam Lutz and Tonya Cole – are captains of EL’s Action Team youth volunteer corps, which is sponsored by Volunteers of America and the Major League Baseball Players Association. In Boston, the sponsoring players are Cora, team captain Jason Varitek and David “Big Papi” Ortiz. Action Team captains serve as leaders in their high schools, organizing and recruiting other volunteers.

On Tuesday, the four EL captains and others from Maine met the players on the field at Fenway Park before the game.

Ortiz told them to “keep on” volunteering. “You’re doing a great job. There’s nothing wrong with helping people to get better,” he said. “Keep on doing it. It’s the best thing ever. People don’t forget about it.”

EL students crooned a cascade of “thank-yous” as Ortiz slipped away and resumed warming up.

Players give back to the communities where they work and live, and want to inspire young people to do the same, said Greg Bouris, director of communications for the Major League Baseball Players Association.

The players want to serve as role models for youth to volunteer in whatever ways they think best, Bouris said.

A new program, the first full year of the Action Team programs like the one at EL has just ended. Nationally, high school teams have inspired more than 9,000 students in the last year to help more than 38,000 in need, Bouris said.

“Major league players want to communicate to kids, ‘You don’t have to be a Major League Baseball player to give back to improve somebody’s life, to put a smile on someone’s face who’s less fortunate,” said Bouris, who stood on the field with students.

At Edward Little, the action team adopted a family at Christmas, will run a baseball clinic at Camp Postcard this summer in Winthrop, “and we’re trying to squeeze in a park cleanup,” said Tonya Cole.

Their reward was being special guests at Fenway, watching a game, being introduced before hand – with their faces and names on the big screen as Jason Varitek shook their hands – plus pregame, close-up encounters with the stars.

Before the game, Cora was the first to walk up to students. Like Varitek, Ortiz, and Coco Crisp, he signed autographs and posed for pictures.

Cora was asked if he had any superstitions.

He said he has a certain “routine” on game day. He arrives at the park, orders tickets for family and friends, then shows up at the cage at the same time. After warm-ups, he watches video of the opposing team. At 6:30, he stretches. Five minutes before the game, he listens to prayer. Then, “I feel at peace with myself. I’m ready to go.”

When Cora’s father was alive, he was president of the Little League chapter in his hometown, he said. “So I started doing it this year.” This year that chapter held baseball clinics where Cora expected 60 kids to show. Instead, 150 turned out.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, what are we doing,'” he said with a laugh. “But it was good.”

When Cora found out the EL students are planning a youth baseball clinic, he told them to make it fun. “People are so into winning,” Cora said. When youngsters are pushed to win, some are turned off by 13 or 14. Because baseball isn’t an active sport, he recommended they create fun drills. “It makes it much better.”

Cora said he’s reading a book by Cal Ripken he likes and recommended it. He said he’d have the title sent to them “so you guys can read it. OK?”

“Awesome! I appreciate it,” said John Alexander.

As Cora walked away, Alexander and Adam Lutz looked at each other in disbelief. One said to the other: “I just had a conversation with Alex Cora! Man. How often is that going to happen?”

For more information:

www.MLBPLAYERS.com

www.VolunteersofAmerica.org

Maine high schools with Action Teams: Edward Little, Kennebunk, South Portland, the Real School in Windham, Thornton Academy and York.