For the love of the game: October 4, 2025

⚾️❤️🙏🏻For the Love of the Game, and My Dad!

Thank you, David, for sharing the Mariners’ win vs the Detroit Tigers last night!

Seeing the Mariners win has my heart full of memories today. My dad in heaven is definitely cheering them on! He was a total athlete, but baseball was his truest passion.

He was a pitcher, and he had an eagle eye. He would take me to the Tacoma Cubs games, and we’d arrive early enough to watch the warmup. From the stands, he could call the pitch every single time. I think I get my own “eagle eye” for coaching from him, from those beautiful days of watching and learning by his side.

His dream was to play professionally. He was even picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals—and now I know why the cardinal has always been my favorite bird, a sacred sign. But before he could ever step onto that pro field, he was drafted into WWII. His path changed from the pitcher’s mound to the battlefield, where he served with incredible bravery, earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart in WWII and the Korean War.

Years later, when he shared this story of his deferred dream with me, I called the Cardinals’ HR department. I told them about the young pitcher who became a war hero instead. I asked if they could possibly send him an official team leather jacket. They did.

I wasn’t home when it arrived, but my mother was in on the surprise. She told me that when he opened it, this strong man who had seen the worst of war, it brought tears to his eyes.

I have that jacket now. And sometimes, when I put it on, it wraps me in the warmest, most loving memories of “take me out to the ballgame,” of popcorn, potato chips and coffee, and of a father’s love. I miss them both so much.

❤️❤️🙏🏻⚾️❤️