Matthew and Patrick started messaging. And before long, Matthew realized Patrick wasn’t looking for his son’s collection. He was looking for cards of his son: Ryan Freel, a former Major League Baseball utility player with a reputation for leaving it all on the field.
"He wanted to get out there and kick butt," says Patrick Freel, Ryan's father. "Reckless abandon. He’d go bounce off of walls if he could catch the ball."
Patrick says fans would chant “Freel for Real” every time his son sacrificed his body to make a spectacular play. But this all-out hustle came with consequences. Patrick remembers a May 2007 game in Cincinnati, when Ryan ran headlong into a fellow Reds outfielder. He had to be taken off the field in an ambulance. Ryan missed 30 games with head and neck contusions but played later in the season. Two years later with the Orioles, Ryan was hit while diving back into second base.
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Ryan’s three daughters were little when their father died. And Patrick wanted to be sure that they had a special way to remember their dad. Which is why Patrick contacted card collector Matthew Christian.
"He said, ‘My son died tragically too young, and I'm looking for his baseball cards for my three granddaughters,’ " Matthew says.
Patrick wanted each of the girls to have their own binder full of Ryan’s baseball cards.
"I said, ‘You know what, Mr. Freel? I've seen all kinds of generous things that the sports card community has done for other people. I know they're going to step up and help this cause,’ " Matthew says.
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/08/31/ryan-freel-baseball-cards
(audio and video at link)
"He wanted to get out there and kick butt," says Patrick Freel, Ryan's father. "Reckless abandon. He’d go bounce off of walls if he could catch the ball."
Patrick says fans would chant “Freel for Real” every time his son sacrificed his body to make a spectacular play. But this all-out hustle came with consequences. Patrick remembers a May 2007 game in Cincinnati, when Ryan ran headlong into a fellow Reds outfielder. He had to be taken off the field in an ambulance. Ryan missed 30 games with head and neck contusions but played later in the season. Two years later with the Orioles, Ryan was hit while diving back into second base.
********
Ryan’s three daughters were little when their father died. And Patrick wanted to be sure that they had a special way to remember their dad. Which is why Patrick contacted card collector Matthew Christian.
"He said, ‘My son died tragically too young, and I'm looking for his baseball cards for my three granddaughters,’ " Matthew says.
Patrick wanted each of the girls to have their own binder full of Ryan’s baseball cards.
"I said, ‘You know what, Mr. Freel? I've seen all kinds of generous things that the sports card community has done for other people. I know they're going to step up and help this cause,’ " Matthew says.
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/08/31/ryan-freel-baseball-cards
(audio and video at link)
