CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians and their starting pitcher Trevor Bauer gave a Youngstown man living with cerebral palsy the experience of a lifetime.
36-year-old Tommy Morris, a passionate Indians fan from Youngstown, underwent open heart surgery when he was just 3 months old. Less than a year after his surgery he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
In April, Morris went to a dentist appointment dressed head to toe in Tribe gear.
His dental hygienist noticed his outfit, discovered Morris had never been to a game and wanted to change that. She took a picture of Morris and had her friend post it on Twitter.
The friend, who goes by her Twitter handle @BuckeyesGirl33, shared the photo and asked her followers to help spread Morris’ story, hoping to get him to his first game.
HELP TWITTER FAM 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
— Not Today ✋🏻 (@BuckeyesGirl33) April 3, 2019
I have a kind thing I want to do for someone! A friend of mine has a patient with cerebral palsy. His name is Tommy he is 36 yr DIEHARD @Indians fan. Would ♥️ to find a way to get his mom & him to their 1st Indians game & have them make it special!! pic.twitter.com/PG94A2VsWb
The photo went viral and caught the attention of the Indians staff, who called Debbie Sakara, Morris’ mother, and gave her some good news.
The team, and Bauer, wanted to make Morris’ wish come true.
“They said Trevor would love to bring Tommy to a game and have an experience with him,” Sakara said.
Bauer and the Indians let Morris choose which game he would attend. He chose the game against the New York Yankees Friday night— a clear choice.
Morris and his family were provided tickets to the game, given access to batting practice and Bauer made some time to spend with him.
“Trevor signed some baseballs and spoke to Tommy for some time,” Sakara said. “Trevor has such a warm heart, he’s such a kind man.”
Sakara said her son was beyond excited for his experience with the team and Bauer, and that the staff was unbelievably kind. Indians legend Carlos Baerga was at the game and took some time to meet with Morris as well.
“I liked meeting everybody and Trevor Bauer,” Morris said. “Trevor Bauer is a wonderful man. I’m thankful for him taking the time to do this for me.”
Morris celebrates his 37th birthday on Monday, so the Indians put a special birthday message on the scoreboard.
To make the experience even sweeter, the Tribe also got a big win, taking down the Yankees 5-2 on a night Morris will never forget.
“It was a special day at the game,” Morris said.
Bauer said on Twitter that he was happy Morris was able to have this experience.
So happy that this worked out and to have met tommy! https://t.co/60NREK2aaF
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) June 9, 2019
“So happy that this worked out and to have met Tommy!” Bauer tweeted.
