The Cowboy Kicks Tail

[Scrap Irony]

As some of you know, my nephew and niece both have cystic fibrosis. This sometimes necessitates time in the hospital. This year has been particularly hard on them.

Both were in the hospital last week in Lexington when some of the Red caravan guys came in. Dusty, The Cowboy, Eric Davis, and Chris Heisey showed up in Christopher's room just to say hi.

He's a pretty big baseball fan and they kind of perked up a bit, talking with him. Earlier this year, Chris got to go to Boston (his favorite team), meet with Big Papi, and hang out before the game at Fenway. They had a good time, but, because of the game and the playoff implications (against the Angels, late in the season), he didn't have much time.

The Red guys stayed and talked with my niece and nephew for more than an hour. Heisey, according to my brother-in-law, is as nice as they come. Eric Davis' ring isn't any nicer than Ortiz's, but his Rolex was (according to my nephew) "awesome". Baker told Christopher he needed to switch teams and Chris told Baker he needed to win for him to consider it.

But the kindest guy, according to all in the room, was Brantley. He came earlier than the others, squatted down next to my niece (who doesn't care at all about ball, but hasn't ever met a stranger), and asked what she was doing. He played Chris on his video game, talked for a while, then, an hour or so later, as he was leaving, asked the nurse if the kid would be alright. Nice guy. Nice team.

No media was there, BTW. No sportswriter either. Just some guys who made one 13-year-old forget his discomfort for a while and a little girl call her uncle to let him know she'd met "her uncle's" Reds.

[REDREAD]

sweet story. thanks for sharing.

Nice of the guys to do that.

[RedLegSuperStar]

That's amazing! You brought tears to my eyes.. God bless your nephew and niece and god bless the Reds for going above and beyond!

[HeatherC1212]

That's so awesome. Best wishes to your niece and nephew and great of the Reds guys to be so wonderful to them.

[GADawg]

damn RedSox fan! just kidding of course....great story...I always wished that I could be in a position to make a difference like that to someone. There are so many people that are in that position but very few take the time to take advantage of it.

[WVPacman]

Scrap,it sounds like you have two great kids as a nephew and niece and I wish nothing but the best for them.Its great that the reds organization cares so much to try and bring happiness to young kids.Godbless your nephew and niece!!

[camisadelgolf]

It's always great to hear about things like this. Thank you for sharing. What your niece and nephew are going through is incredibly difficult, and I'm so happy to hear that there are people out there willing to make a difference in people's lives on their own time and without obligation.

[marcshoe]

Fantastic stuff.

[Caseyfan21]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing.

[nate]

Nice story, SI!

[Eric_the_Red]

Nice story. We need to hear more of this from sports figures. (I'm sure it happens, but it doesn't get reported as much.)

[NJReds]

That's a great story, and I think not uncommon. I would bet that a lot of ballplayers do good deeds like this under the radar. I know Boomer Esiason does a lot of work for cystic fibrosis because of his son, who seems to be doing better now. Best wishes to your niece and nephew.

[OnBaseMachine]

Nice story, Scrap.

[Screwball]

No media was there, BTW. No sportswriter either. Just some guys who made one 13-year-old forget his discomfort for a while and a little girl call her uncle to let him know she'd met "her uncle's" Reds.

Probably my favorite part of the story. Really great stuff Scrap, thanks for sharing.

[WVRedsFan]

I would have guessed that. Dusty Baker, Jeff Brantley, Eric Davis, Paul Janish, and Heisey were some of the nicest baseball people I've ever met. Lots of prayers and good thoughts for your niece and nephew. I'm glad Reds players brightened those kids' day.