My wife and I are huge baseball (and Orioles!) fans. We go to at least a dozen games a year, including attending two games last year when my wife was pregnant with our son, Owen. There were complications late in the pregnancy and Owen was stillborn on May 6th, 2025.

In the lead-up to what would have been his first birthday, my wife and I contemplated different ways to honor Owen's memory. We kept coming back to baseball, as it was something we both love and had hoped to share with Owen. My wife secured scoreboard messages for his birthday at six MLB parks yesterday, including the ballparks for the Angels, Tigers, Royals, Yankees, Cardinals, and the Marlins, who happened to be hosting our Orioles.

My wife and I reached out to baseball fans asking for photos of the birthday messages at these six ballparks. The response was overwhelming, and we also received direct responses from several of the teams with photos, condolences, and kind messages.

The healing capacity of sports in general - and baseball specifically - cannot be overstated. As we have navigated the grief over the loss of our son this past year, baseball has time and again provide us an escape, a support system, and a community we wouldn't trade for anything.

My wife and I wanted to share this post in the hopes that it helps even just one person struggling with grief, loss, pregnancy loss, or any other difficult circumstances. My wife and I were devastated when we learned that Kayla and Alex Vesia had experienced pregnancy loss during last year's World Series, a loss which hit us pretty close to home. We hope they have gotten the support from the baseball community that we have experience from the fan community.

Thank you all for supporting your fellow baseball fans. You never know what someone else is going through, and we could all use more support and encouragement in our lives. Happy birthday, Owen.

Tremendous thanks to the team representatives from the Angels, Cardinals, Tigers, Marlins, Royals, and Yankees who reached out to us with photos and kind messages, as well as to the following users for help with photos:

u/MysteriousJuly

u/Shereste

u/gottagolast

u/krash87

u/Tim5000

u/alexlegit

u/nolesfan89

u/johngar67

u/dakid24167

u/calhap

u/professional\_feed268

u/ChannelSuccessful642

u/Connect-Medicine9631

For what would have been our son's first birthday, we had birthday messages at six MLB stadiums yesterday