Wyatt Langford impacting more than just baseballs
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Scott and Scottie Jamison were late to the Florida Gators series finale against Vanderbilt. They’ll get a pass since it was Mother’s Day and they were coming from brunch, but 11-year-old Scottie was celebrating his birthday and he wanted to see his favorite player — Wyatt Langford.
The family has season tickets at Condron Family Ballpark. Scott and his son hadn’t been inside the stadium and on the outfield berm for more than a minute before Wyatt Langford launched a baseball an estimated 450 feet out of the stadium and onto the grass just outside of the park.
A passerby was lucky not to get struck with the projectile that left Langford’s bat at 110 miles an hour. He picked it up and then there was a call out from back inside the ballpark.
“We actually got up to the berm, he hits the home run and it goes out of the stadium. Scottie turns and looks and some guy picks it up,” Scott Jamison told Gators Online on Monday afternoon. “He walked over and I told him it was (Scottie’s) birthday and he just threw it up him. It was pretty awesome.”
The trade
Every Sunday the entire baseball team will line up to sign autographs and spend time talking to fans. Most of those fans are younger. The players are larger than life but Langford and his teammates are accessible. Scottie’s Gator hat is full of signatures but now he had something better. An actual ball that Langford had hit and Scottie had a chance to get a signature on it.
“He went to his normal spot to go get autographs and he said maybe (Wyatt) will sign it and write home run ball on it,” Scott Jamison said. “He was over there waiting and the guys are so amazing with their time. They come over and sign and as Wyatt got there my son handed him the ball and I said, ‘hey, Wyatt, that’s the ball that you hit about 450 feet today. He said he’d love to have it to give to his mom. He looked up at Scottie and Scottie looked back at me.”
At that moment Scottie didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t considered giving up the ball that he’d just gotten. He plays for the Florida Hardballers, the same travel baseball team that Langford played for. Langford’s coach, John Colacci was integral in getting Langford to Florida. He sat Langford down when he was 13 and asked what he wanted to do in baseball. Langford told him to play for the Florida Gators. He told the teenager that he had the skill but needed to work for it. He got Wyatt into the showcases where he would be seen by Florida’s staff and Langford took care of the rest. Now, he’s a larger-than-life figure to countless young baseball players — including the one in front of him.
Langford offered Scottie a trade. A pair of signed batting gloves, the ones he was wearing when he hit the home run, for the ball.
“On his birthday. His favorite player. It’s just one of those crazy cool things,” Scott Jamison said. “He was so excited. I think he might have slept with those things in his bed last night. He was so excited about it. He was showing everybody and telling them about it.”
Growing the game
The moment was special for Langford. He was able to give his mom a one-of-a-kind gift on Mother’s Day. The day will be bigger for Scottie than Langford might even know. Each Sunday he’s one of the last players off the field, he won’t leave the outfield until every person that was waiting for an autograph, a picture, or just a word has had a chance.
“This is what really what this is all about but not everybody does this. You don’t go to every college and have guys doing this. They’re doing it because they want to. That says a lot about them and I think that says a lot about the idea of how down to Earth they are and genuine they are,” Jamison said.
“He’ll never forget this, for sure. This is something that he’ll be talking about forever to his kids.”
