This story is like a bad Disney movie…except for the fact that it’s true and it’s a great story and it’s not Disney it’s the Yankees…which may be worse.
Anyway, here’s the deal, Brett Gardner is a backup player for the Yankees. He’s not real good. He’d hit 1 home run in his two year career in over 200 at bats. He only hit the ball a quarter of the time (which isn’t all that bad…but not all that good either). He’s just a utility player.
Well Brett was reading stories to some kids at a hospital when one of them, a die hard Yankees fan, gave him a bracelet that said “hope” on it. I think it was one of those bracelets that help support causes. She asked him if he would take the bracelet and then hit a home run that night at the game. Brett told her that he’d do his best and give it a shot.
That night he wasn’t even scheduled to play, but a third of the way through the game one of the players on the roster before him got ejected. Brett not only got to play but he hit an inside the park home run (which is quite rare in todays baseball game). Cool story right? Little used reserve gets asked to hit a home run in a game that he isn’t even play in, and then he ends up playing half way through the game and not only hits a home run but hits an inside the park homer! Great story right? Well how about this, the very next day that girl who had been waiting for a heart transplant for three months got news that there was a heart for her!
Thats right, sick girl asks reserve player to hit a home run. He comes into the game late, hits a unique home run and then girl gets heart transplant next day.
Go ahead Disney, make your movie…though, I’d suggest that to make the movie better you should replace the sick girl with a talking poodle, switch the Yankees with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and have it end with the girl getting her heart transplant while she watches the backup player and new Pirates leader take his team to the World Series which he wins for them in stunning fashion as he is forced to pitch and play shortstop at the same time and then surprisingly ends up recruiting his hamster Jerry to bat clean up for the Pirates. In the end while the poodle gets her heart transplant both Jerry and the reserve player hit home runs to lead the Pirates to a come from behind victory. The joy that overflows from the Pirates winning the world series causes the poodles dad to come back home and talk to her for the first time since he left her at the age of four. He apologizes for what he did to her and promises that he will always love her and never leave her side again. This is made more possible by the fact that her mom and dad are getting back together and they’re all moving to upstate New York where there is a house waiting for them with a beautiful Christmas tree, lots of presents, and a bow around the front door. The Poodle then says to her parents that “There’s one way this could all be even better.” obviously her parents wonder what, what in the name could she want that would surpass the joy of the home run, the heart transplant, the world series victory, Jerry the hamster, her dad returning home, her parents reuniting, the new house and the many gifts!?! And that’s when the poodle says “a baby brother.”
Roll credits.