In a world where it seems like people are becoming increasingly impatient and hostile with one other, there are little beacons of light to remind us of the good. One of those lights is Boston Red Sox pitcher, Payton Tolle, who, time and again, illustrates that life can be fun and people can be kind.
Tolle, who is only 23 years old, delights fans looking for that Red Sox magic. But it’s not just his left-handed throwing arm that leaves a good impression. It’s his ability to inject genuine positivity into every situation he can. A lot of it comes down to the love he has for his late mother.
Keeping positive vibes
In a clip posted to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) YouTube page, Tolle is first seen sharing a quote from his mother. “Probably my favorite quote that my Mom would say is, ‘I love Jesus, but I cuss a little bit. Today is a great day to be a badass. Go out there and kick ass,’” he shares.
With his old-school mustache and deep dimples, he lets out a hearty laugh. He’s then asked about his “good vibes.” Again, he chuckles and answers, “I mean, I think for me, it’s just like, how can I contribute today?” He adds, “I’ve got to go out there and have a positive attitude. And if I could be the reason that somebody smiles, that’s what I’m here to do.”
His mom instilled joy
The interviewer brings up his mom, Jina, and asks if he feels her presence. Tolle shares, “I will run out there before every game in the middle of center field, and then I feel like I have a conversation with her. She told me to play with joy and to show people why you love this game.”
He doesn’t take that joy for granted. “I get to go out there every fifth day and I get to do that. Like, I get to be a Tigger and have as much joy and have as much fun as I can because that’s my why. That’s the reason I play.”
Jina instilled this sense in him, and he feels her with him every day. “I text her, still. I still look up and give an ‘I love you.’ I got a list of people that I text, and she’s one of them. You know, it’s a string of cuss words and then ‘I love you, I miss you, and, uh, let’s go wreck shop.’”
Don’t be an Eeyore
Tolle is then asked why he just dropped Tigger (the beloved bouncy tiger from Winnie the Pooh) into the middle of a sentence. He gleefully explains, “It was just one of her catchphrases, I guess. And she was always, life gives you crappy circumstances. You can be a Tigger about it or you can be an Eeyore. It’s simple. And that mindset is, I think, not only what helped her out the most, but helped my brother, my dad, like just the people around her.”
He stresses the fact that cancer never changed his mom’s outlook on life. “She still drove three hours to watch me and Charlie, me and my brother, play baseball. It’s like she loved watching us do what we loved and that’s the reason we could do it.”
‘You’re so pretty’
Tolle is then asked about his glove. “So on it, I have, ‘you’re so pretty.’ Every game, no matter what.” He begins to get choked up and removes his Red Sox hat. “It’s like I hear it? Every game, throughout high school, my mom would yell out, ‘You’re so pretty!’ And it was meant to embarrass me for a long time. I found quickly, like (it meant), she loves me. So now every time I look down and see that, it’s my little reminder that, ‘Hey, crap happens on the field. But you’re still pretty! Like, you’re still good. You’re more than just baseball.’”
The hug heard around the world
Tolle takes those good vibes and shares them constantly. He went viral just this week after tagging out Seattle Mariners’ Dominic Canzone and then immediately hugging him in a beautiful moment of good sportsmanship. The move, now being called a “hug out” by some, seemed to assure Canzone, “You’ll get ’em next time. You’re still pretty!”
And so now, not only is Jina being carried with Tolle, but her well wishes and amazing parenting are being spread to everyone in the game. Under the clip posted by @todayshow and @NBC10Boston, one person comments, in part, “His mama taught him well.”
