NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
A lifelong baseball fan is living every fan’s dream, but unfortunately, it’s under tragic circumstances.
Jonathan St. Clair will visit all 30 MLB stadiums in as many days to raise awareness about water safety, 12 years after losing his 21-month-old son, Jasper, to drowning.
While in the care of a trusted babysitter, St. Clair’s firstborn, Jasper, was taken to a house with an unenclosed swimming pool and left unattended for just a few minutes. The doctors did everything they could to save him for about a week, but Jasper unfortunately lost the battle.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Jonathan St. Clair attends a Colorado Rockies game. (Visit of the wave maker)
“He hadn’t learned to swim and hadn’t taken swimming lessons yet. So we were very, very surprised. How come we didn’t know how dangerous the water was, or how come we couldn’t have signed the kids up for swimming lessons sooner?” St. Clair told PK Press Club Digital in a recent interview.
The interview took place before the sixth game of his trip, a night game in Toronto, after he flew from Denver to watch the Colorado Rockies.
“So all of these things have happened and we’ve learned a lot from the community as a whole. Since then, we’ve met not just one family like ours, but hundreds of us who are out there. can happen to someone else. It’s something that can happen to you.
Nothing will ever solve this unimaginable burden, but there has been a level of comfort in meeting families who share similar unfortunate experiences, long before this road trip was even an idea.
“I couldn’t have taken a single step 12 years ago without this group of families,” St. Clair said.
St. Clair wears a Wave Maker Tour life vest at every game, which initially draws some stares from other fans. But when they also spot his MLB cap with the logos of all 30 teams, it becomes easier to strike up a conversation.
“It’s fun walking around town with a life vest on because everyone doesn’t know what to ask, and then someone asks, and that starts the conversation. It’s actually been fantastic,” St. Clair said.
What about the hat?
“I feel very connected with every team I walk into because I’m not coming in as a fan. I’m coming in with a cause, and it’s been very well received. It’s been so much fun.”
Already a week into his trip, one father offered his first-class seat to St. Clair, and another gave him an extra ticket to watch batting practice behind home plate.
St. Clair, a Los Angeles Dodgers fan originally from Washington, said he’s already been to about 10 or 11 stadiums before this trip, and he knows that every one he hasn’t been to yet, his baby should be there.
Jasper St. Clair was 21 months old when he drowned in a swimming pool. (Visit of the wave maker)
“Well, I’m a big baseball fan. I grew up loving baseball. I played baseball. I thought one thing about this sport in particular is that it starts with very young kids, as young as three years old, it usually starts even in Little League. My son didn’t get to play that game. I know he definitely would have,” St. Clair said.
“I always wanted to do all 30 ballparks, but I had no idea about doing them all in 30 days. And, of course, last year we had a lot of drownings across the United States. One thing I thought about, I had this crazy idea: Maybe if I do 30 ballparks in 30 days, we’ll get some recognition and get people talking about death prevention. drownings.
After catching the Blue Jays’ loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Center, St. Clair took a flight to Detroit Wednesday morning to travel to Cleveland for the Guardians’ game against the Minnesota Twins. He returned to Detroit to watch the Tigers face the Kansas City Royals.
The map is constructed – and yes, St. Clair is petrified of rain showers, canceled flights and just about anything that requires him to take a detour from his 17 flights, six car rides, four trains, a boat and a bike (he was delighted when he remembered that the Rogers Center had a retractable roof during his rainy day in Canada).
But he likes to think the baseball gods and those close to him are on his side.
“I think even though this whole campaign that I’m running is only 30 days, the most important goal is after the 30 days, right? What happened? What information did we get? What real reach did we achieve? I really hope that reach was great,” St. Clair said.
Jonathan St. Clair will visit all 30 MLB stadiums in as many days to honor his son. (Visit of the wave maker)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PK Press Club APP
“I opened my feed this morning and five people in Ohio drowned in a river, and that’s not what I want to see. I want to wake up in the morning – I know we’ll never get to zero – but the goal is to make people aware that if they’re in these rivers and things like that, they need to wear a life vest. So we’re working on it one step at a time, and that’s it. Thirty days is a huge accomplishment.
“I was on the phone with my wife a few hours ago, and she said, ‘How are you?’ And I said to myself, “I’m pretty tired today.” I have three hours on two flights. But it’s okay. I have so many people behind me, and it’s not just me. I don’t do this alone. I have hundreds of people behind me who have helped me coordinate, who are there at every stop at every location, and they make my experience at every stop a real experience, not just a layover, so to speak.”
