After the dramatic win over the Milwaukee Brewers, when fans cheered for the top performance of Sonny Gray – the veteran pitcher of the Cardinals – he himself stepped onto the interview podium with an unusually quiet face. No smile. No fist-raising in celebration.
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“I would like to dedicate this game to the first woman who believed that I would become a professional player… My grandmother – who just left this world.”
“She was the first person who taught me that dreams are something you should never give up on.”
Sonny said that when he was a child, when his parents were busy, it was his grandmother – Marlene – who took him to the ballpark, carrying a sandwich and a bottle of water, sitting in the Tennessee summer heat to cheer on her little grandson.
“She always sat in the front row, even though she never understood the rules of baseball. But every time I missed a pitch, I’d just see her nod and smile and I’d get up and throw it again.”
That morning, Gray had planned to FaceTime her—just to show off his new shoes and say goodnight. But just a few hours later, he learned that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 87.
“I texted her, ‘Grandma, I’m going to pitch for you today.’ But … I sent it too late.”
The Cardinals observed a special moment of silence after the game, during which Gray’s No. 54 jersey was placed next to a woolen scarf that his grandmother, Marlene, knitted for him when he was 13.
The entire stadium stood up as the big screen displayed the words:
“For Grandma Marlene – the heart behind every pitch.”
Sonny Gray had won many great games, but that game was a milestone in its own right – where he threw each pitch as if writing his last letter to his grandmother.
Because, despite the tens of thousands of people in the stadium, Sonny was still looking for the familiar eyes of the little woman who believed:
“I can do it – and you will always be here.”