Jack Van Vleet’s outfit, courtesy of the Oakland A’s
No, not me!
If you are Facebook friends with me you might have noticed in recent weeks that I have been liking and commenting on posts from my buddy Pete Van Vleet. Pete and I worked together, sat next to each other actually, for almost eight years at The Associated Press. We worked in the newsroom of the AP’s Broadcast News Center, and our tasks changed almost daily. Some days were insanely busy, others could be pretty slow. Regardless of what was going on around us, or how stressful the news got, we always had time to talk sports. Specifically baseball.
Our shared love of baseball is something we intend to share with our kids. I am an Orioles fan. My father was raised in Baltimore and was 10 when the O’s came to town. He was in Memorial Stadium for the final out of the 1966 World Series, the first title for the birds. He’s lived in DC now longer than he lived in Baltimore, and he reads The Washington Post every day, so the Nationals are the team he follows the closest these days. He also hates the Orioles owner. But that doesn’t stop us from talking baseball just about every time we talk or see each other. For close to four decades now.
My son Cameron is now three, he was at his first Orioles game at less than six months. We took Erin to her first game just after her first birthday. The both have certificates and O’s hats. The Orioles will be THEIR team, whether they like it or not!
Pete has a different approach. And frankly it’s hard not to admire how he’s going about it. Pete is a Houston Astros fan. Born and raised in Richmond, Va, Pete didn’t have a local big league team. So he found one. That is the message he’s sending to his kids. Daughter Madeline adopted the Detroit Tigers. Pete and his wife Marcia welcomed son Jack back in February. Before this MLB season began, Pete wrote a letter to all 30 MLB teams asking them why his son should root for them. This was a fun exercise for Pete, but the reaction he would soon get from the teams and social media was the real story. Pete and Jack became famous for a couple of weeks. Newspaper articles, MLB’s own website did a story, Pete did a skype interview with a local TV station in Milwaukee. The family was invited to the Richmond minor league teams game as VIPs. And the reaction to Pete and Jack on social media was incredibly positive.
The Brewers throw their hat in the ring
With his fifteen minutes winding down. My old work buddy was nice enough to give me a couple of minutes to talk about this whole wild experience. And nice enough to give me a chance to get my blog dusted off after too many months on the shelf!
You grew up in Richmond, Va as a Houston Astros fan. Why have you decided to let your kids find their own favorite teams, instead of passing down your fandom like so many (myself included) do?
Great question. So I have always taken quite a lot of pride in being an Astros fan. I am a march-to-my-own beat kinda guy anyway so picking the Astros and sticking with them fits into that. And because of that I wanted Jack and Madeline to have that same experience. There is something emboldening about being able to stand separate from the group and to stand proudly and firmly. I guess I am picking my kids to have to experience that over having whatever bonding we may engage in over cheering and lamenting over the same team. I will freely admit that I may have miscalculated this but my father wasn’t a big baseball fan (while he liked the sport and encouraged my love for it he himself didn’t have a team, my grandfather was the big baseball guy in my family but he passed before I could develop a following.
What were your expectations were when you decided to send letters to all 30 MLB teams? What type of responses were you really expecting?
I was expecting to get three or four letters, mostly from some intern in the PR department. I was hoping for more than that but I told myself not to be disappointed if only one or two teams responded. I wasn’t expecting anything deep or too meaningful but rather more marketing.
Your daughter is a Tigers fan. How did that happen? Did that experience help you decide to “help” Jack find his favorite team?
So, I wanted to introduce the game to my daughter slowly. Let’s be real baseball (despite what Nuke Laloosh says) is a complicated game. So I started taking her to minor league games and just let her absorb the atmosphere and ask questions when things happened. Much to my delight she fell for the game and so I sat her down in front of the the MLB At Bat channel and we went through the teams and the ones she was interested in I would show her the highlights. She started only to ask about the Tigers and Blue Jays and then she settled on the Tigers. Tigers, at the time, were her favorite animal, we would go to the National Zoo a lot and she always, always wanted to see the tigers. She says she likes them because they are fierce and how could I not support that.
For Jack I want him to land in his team in that same organic way. However this isn’t, or rather doesn’t have to be, a one way street. If he were to make an informed decision on something as important as picking your team (and really are there many other decisions more important, or lasting than this?) those candidates should have a say as well.
This quest of yours made you and Jack a little bit famous for a couple of days. Social media, MLB.com, local news skype interview, even an article in your hometown newspaper. You were in the news business, did the media interest in this surprise you? Did you make the most of those 15 minutes of fame!
This is what shocked me the most. I figured that some family and friends would get a kick out of it and that would be that. Honestly, I didn’t think it was that unusual or unique of an idea, to write every team. To me it was like those people who travel to every ballpark in 30 days, something that is obviously out there and all it takes to do it is to do it. So the media response was completely a shocker and no I did not make the most of it. If I were prepared I would have been more socially active with it, would have created a hash tag and would have had some plan on how to promote this on some way. I am stuck now between trying to get more teams to respond and keep this alive but not coming off in a way to exploit Jack or appear greedy. It’s a fine line that I am tripping over.
How many responses have you gotten from teams? How much swag? How hard of a decision is this shaping up to be?
We’ve heard from 8 or 9 teams so far. There’s been little swag, a onesie, a bib, some small toys and a signed baseball. The swag is nice but what I really want are the letters and notes. I think it takes more time and more effort to write something up and personalize and I think it will be those that Jack will keep and cherish his entire life.
Swag from the Mets!
Looking back on the letters you wrote and based on the type of responses you’re getting from the clubs, would you have done anything differently?
Looking back I think I would have addressed them to different people. I wrote the letters to team presidents and CEOs thinking they should be the ones who should respond to this. I probably should have sent the same letter to PR departments. I tried to personalize some of the letters to clubs that I, or our family have ties to and I think I should have done that more too.
How does this end? Do you think you’ve heard from all the teams that will write you back? When will Jack make his decision and how? What happens if he chooses the Rangers or another Astros rival? Or, GASP, the Yankees!
I think this ends when Jack is 4 or 5 and honestly picks a team for whatever reason he picks a team. The how part will be interesting and may be as capricious as liking a uniform or mascot. Whomever he picks I will do the same as I did for Madeline and take him out there for a game or two, just the pair of us (unless he picks the Tigers like Madeline did and then we will be three). I think at this point we have heard from all that we are going to hear from. It will be tough if he chooses the Rangers but that could be fun as well, it will certainly reflect and transform our relationship. The Yankees would be interesting… I’m not sure how I would react to that. I’m an underdog guy and have always thought of Yankee fans who have no apparent connection to the team as people who root for Microsoft as well, but if he chooses them he chooses them.
I forgot that you all got invited to be honored at a local minor league game (Richmond Flying Squirrels!) at the height of this. What was that like? The game was rained out, were you bummed or relieved that you didn’t have to toss out a first pitch? Any plans for a makeup date to do that, or has that ship sailed.
So that may have been the coolest at all. The Squirrels treated us like royalty. Firstly they called just as we were leaving telling us that the game was going to be rained out but that we were still welcome to come to hang out with the players. Well, Madeline had been looking forward to this and we didn’t want to completely bail out on it. We got there and soon afterwards we were surrounded by the players. I had a fear that these 22 to 24 year olds wouldn’t be interested at all with a 40+ dad his wife, a 5-year-old and an infant but they were super cool with us. The players really gravitated toward Madeline asking her about who she likes, princesses and relating with their own children. They posed for photos and just hung out and chatted. It made Madeline feel like a superstar and she was one. They gave each of the kids jerseys and fed us.
So I was a bit disappointed that we couldn’t get on the field and throw out the first pitch (I was going to let Madeline do that if she wanted, but if she demurred I was planning on a long slow toss so as not to bounce it) and take part in the other activities they had planned for her. She was really looking forward to cleaning off the bases with a huge tooth brush they have and they let her play with that while we were in the tunnel which was extra nice of them. We also got super close to the pitcher who was supposed to go that night while he got some throws in. I loved Madeline’s face as she witnessed something being thrown that hard and to see her cover her ears each time the glove popped.
They told us to let them know when we want to come back and they can see what they can do. We haven’t figured out a date yet but we will nail something down hopefully soon.
Madeline visits with her favorite MINOR league team
Well I will say the Astros (of course) did a great job. Ryan’s (Astros President Reid Ryan, son of Nolan) note was to the point “Baseball bonds generations” and he’s right. It’s also cool that he offered us a pair of tickets whenever we want to go. The Brewers letter was pretty spot on too mentioning the teams history and hopes for future success. The O’s did a good job playing up Camden but the best has to be the Pirates. It was heartfelt, sincere and everything I could have hoped for. I’ve got a lot of respect for them now and wish them the best even though they are in a super tough division. I am really hoping to hear from all teams of course, but really the Tigers would be the icing on the cake. They are Madeline’s team and I want her to feel connected to this. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Dad’s favorite team makes their case
The Pirates make their pitch to Jack
The only other sports team that I know you to care about as much or more than the Astros, is your alma-mater, the VCU Rams basketball team. Is that up for debate as well? Or are the kids riding that bandwagon from the beginning? And if so, is geography part of this. If Richmond had an MLB team, would that have changed your outlook on all of this. From your fandom to that of your children?
Well I will strongly encourage he follow VCU basketball. I fully expect that the Rams will be his first basketball game and I hope he catches the bug, I’m sure he will. However college basketball is a different beast and while my Rams have forced themselves onto the national stage we are not at that level as say Kentucky, UNC, Syracuse and Kansas, at least not yet so I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a couple of college teams. Such is the life of a fan outside of the Power 5.
As to if Richmond had an MLB team, I don’t know. I want him to have strong connection to his team, one that for reasons that may be known just to him, will be stronger than just they are the local team. Proximity doesn’t guarantee loyalty. I think if we were still in Arlington I would not have simply expected him to be a Nats or O’s fan though that would make it easier for travel and local conversations.
Let me add this, all my life I’ve gotten the question why am I an Astros fan and that has made me closely examine why I am, I’ve had to dig for answers beyond the “that’s where I’m from” or “That’s my dad’s team.” I’ve really had to look for an answer and the truth lies on multiple levels a) they were good when I started liking baseball b) they played in a cool stadium and had awesome uniforms c) they’ve always had players of strong character and weren’t a team rebuilt from year to year on free agency so I really got to know and follow the guys. But the real answer is that they stole my heart. As a kid they hooked me and I haven’t/can’t/won’t ever let go. They are my team, better or worse, National League or American, win or lose those are my guys and the connection I have with them is as real and as strong as any other I may have and in the end that is what I hope Jack finds, a team that speaks to him, that whispers in his ears “follow us, let’s take this ride together.” I want him to feel it in his bones, to get a chill when he hears the team’s name, to smile and nod at any stranger wearing that team’s cap to be, in essence, his first love.
Finally some quick questions for Marcia, Pete’s wife and Jack and Madeline’s mom:
What does mom think about all this? Did any team gain your support throughout this? I imagine Jack would take your advice. Have you enjoyed all this, even the extra media attention on Pete and Jack?
It’s been a fun adventure. I’ve enjoyed watching Pete’s reaction to all of this. On the days when packages have arrived in the mail, it has been like Christmas morning for him. And it will be a special story to tell Jack when he’s old enough to appreciate it.
But, if I’m being totally honest, the extra media attention makes me a little nervous. Facebook was one thing, but then this story went to a whole other level we never expected. Pete has handled it well, though. But as the Mama it has been a bit nerve-racking to be on this side of things as far as the coverage. Even though it’s a positive, feel-good story, you still feel like your family is under a magnifying glass and you lose some control of the narrative because you aren’t writing the story. That’s hard for someone who is used to writing and editing. An unexpected upside to the coverage has been realizing that our neighbors still read the newspaper!
I’ll definitely support the Flying Squirrels from now on. They were so nice to our family, especially Madeline. (And she’s a huge baseball fan already, which sometimes gets left out of all of this.) They took a lot of time to hang out with her, talk princesses, sign autographs. It was a special day for her! And I’ll always be grateful to the team and staff for that.
As far as major league teams, though, based solely on what we’ve received as part of this experiment, I’d tell Jack to pick the Pirates. Their letter was exceptional!
My prediction: Madeline continues to be her daddy’s biggest baseball buddy, and Jack stays home and watches reruns of Fixer Upper with me.
This has been a fun story to watch from afar, and it was a lot of fun to talk with Pete and Marcia a bit more in depth about how all of this went down. Thanks to them both for taking the time to chat about all of this one more time!
Fogg Daddy 