Former Red Sox Player Helps 9 Year-Old Fan After Tragedy
My 15 year-old son lives in northern California, less than 50 miles from where some of the fires responsible for 21 deaths, and thousands of people being displaced, continue to rage. Thankfully my son is safe, but he sent me a message last night, telling me about a 9-year-old kid named Loren, whose house burned down.
Like my son and I, Loren is a big baseball fan. So after his parents' house burned down, he wrote a letter to his favorite baseball team...the Oakland A's...about all the stuff he lost in the fire. He had hundreds of baseball cards, 17 jerseys, 10 hats, and a bunch of other memorabilia, including a ball signed by the entire A's team. All of it gone.
Well, over the weekend, a reporter posted a picture of Loren's letter online. And the response has been crazy. A bunch of A's fans asked how they can send their memorabilia to replace the stuff he lost. A bunch of MLB teams have gotten in on it too. The A's, Rays, Rockies, and Tigers have already said they're sending stuff to him. Several players are doing it too, including former A's pitchers Dan Haren and Sean Doolittle. As well as one of my favorite Red Sox players from back in the day...Kevin Youkilis...gave Loren an autographed bat.
The card company Topps has also gotten involved. So it sounds like he might end up with way more baseball stuff than he had to begin with.
If you want to send something, here's the address:
The Oakland Athletics, Attn: A's Community for Loren
7000 Coliseum Way
Oakland, CA 94621