A Bay Area baseball team plans to reach out to a little boy who lost his sports memorabilia in the recent wildfires.
Nine-year-old Loren Jade Smith wrote a letter to the Oakland A's after his family was one of many who lost their home in the Santa Rosa wildfire. Loren's letter to the team explained what he has been able to collect in his short life and his love for the A's.
Young @Athletics fan pens heartbreaking letter to team after losing all of his baseball memorabilia in the #NorthBayFires #abc7now pic.twitter.com/5dNDt5PLkY
— Katie Utehs (@KatieUtehs) October 15, 2017
Loren's letter says:
"To the Oakland A’s,
I love watching your A’s games. I want to be an A’s player, and I play at Mark West Little League in Santa Rosa. I played baseball in my backyard all day loving the A’s and making up my own game. In my backyard, they won six World Series in a row. But my house burned down in the Santa Rosa fire, and my saddest things were my baseball collection cards, my 17 jerseys and 10 hats and my baseball from the game and also a ball signed by the whole team and Rickey (Henderson) and Bob Melvin. I am 9 years old and I had a major league baseball and it all burned up, so sad. I know you’re not all together but hope they get this."
Oakland A's president Dave Kaval saw the letter and tweeted the team plans to reach out to Loren's family to work to replace the lost memorabilia.
No doubt. So touching. We are reaching out to family so we can replace their collection. https://t.co/Gwk48heAyR
— Dave Kaval (@DaveKaval) October 15, 2017
After news spread of the A's intentions, other MLB teams stepped up to the plate to help Loren.
If you'd like to donate baseball memorabilia to our pal Loren, please send items to the address below and we’ll make sure they get to him. pic.twitter.com/xI3ZwWWfNA
— A's, But Spooky 🌳🐘🎃 (@Athletics) October 16, 2017
Hey Loren, we got a package with your name on it on the way! #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/krjS5mdiRY
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 16, 2017
📬 Just dropped all of this in the mail for you, Loren! 👍 pic.twitter.com/fKmcZf6voC
— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 16, 2017
We’ve got a Padres pack on its way for Loren—including an autographed Mark McGwire baseball 🤗 pic.twitter.com/IWXQ8VDUUb
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 16, 2017
#Dbacks pack headed your way for Loren! pic.twitter.com/Jkp2fqbawx
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 16, 2017
Don’t worry, we’re in. https://t.co/eYsEIx9Rbm
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) October 17, 2017
Let Loren know we've got a package full of gear on its way. #TrueToTheBlue pic.twitter.com/Pcog5hWXid
— Mariners (@Mariners) October 16, 2017