Every spring, Dan Berman and his son Matan had a tradition: They would travel to the coast of Florida for the major league spring training games.
The training games were an especially fun trip, as fans could get up close and personal with their favorite players. Dan and Matan also love traveling together, and the games were a perfect excuse to drive along the coast.
One year, however, things didn’t exactly go as planned.
The Braves, Matan’s favorite team, had started requiring people to pay money to talk with the players.
“He was incensed by this,” says Dan. “He was into the spiritual side of baseball. [He believed] that everyone should have access.”
So, rather than give up on talking to his favorite player Eddie Pérez, Matan stubbornly sat in the bullpen for an hour, watching the pitchers and catchers warming up. And when Pérez came out, Matan started yelling, trying to get his attention, and asking him to throw a ball his way. To Dan and Matan’s surprise, it worked: Pérez signed one and threw it right to a beaming Matan.
