This is a photo of Pehr and Ryne in July 2007 when Ryne was 2.5 months old. Ryne was born a Cubbies fan, and here's why...
As my Dad would say, "Is this a long story?" Yes, it is. So, please bear with me!
For those of you that don't know, Ryne gets his first name after Ryne Sandberg, who is one of Pehr's favorite baseball players of all time. Ryne Sandberg is probably one of the greatest 2nd basemans ever and played for the Chicago Cubs. He's retired now and is coaching an Illinois minor league team.
Most of you know that Pehr and I are high school sweethearts and shortly after we started dating, Pehr said "If I have a son, I'm naming him Michael Ryne." Keep in mind, that was 13 years before Ryne was even born! Well, over time the name eventually changed to Ryne Michael, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
After Ryne was born in Chicagoland (go figure with all of our moving around) I had the crazy idea to contact Ryne Sandberg and tell him our story. I sent him one of Ryne's birth announcements, adding that I would love to give Pehr an autograph for his 1st Father's Day, and that I was sure that my son would one day cherish it as well. I even included a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Father's Day 2007 came and went and I never heard anything. I figured he was busy (their baseball season had just started) and he probably receives those types of requests all the time! No worries...at least I tried.
Fast forward to June 2008 (over a year later), and I had completely forgotten that I'd even contacted him. Not until I got an email from my Mom one morning while we were still living in Paris and she said that I received a signed baseball card in the mail - forwarded all the way to her house in my original self-addressed, stamped envelope. Keep in mind that we'd moved several times in the last year. I couldn't believe it !
I didn't tell Pehr about the card and kept it a secret for 2 weeks until we moved back to the US and I was able to give it to him. He was so surprised, especially after I told him the whole story.
I love Ryne Sandberg! Seriously, what a nice, generous and decent guy to do that, especially in the day and age where some sports stars are super cocky, get paid way too much money, and couldn't care less about their fans!
The card is a Fleer "Greats of the Game" 2007 edition, which is the year Ryne was born. We keep the card in Ryne's room in a double frame along with the above pic featured in today's Flashback.On a side note, after scanning this baseball card just now, I noticed that there's a finger print smudge on the signature. Right there in the middle by those figure 8-looking loops (the capital "S" I imagine). WOW...could that really be Ryne Sandberg's fingerprint?! Hmmm...interesting!
5 comments:
That is awesome! I have a signed card too! If I had known, I would have given you mine :-)
What a cool story! :)
Cute story! I never had heard how he got his name. :)
Very cool story! What a great keepsake that Dad and son can share:)
I'll have to tell Jeff that story...amazing!!
Wish you all lived closer so the kids could play and we could chat.
Miss you!
B
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