Interview #11: Sarah Saxton, Beaver Ball girl
And the time the Portland Beavers gave her infield practice
Background: Sarah (Cook) Saxton was born in 1985 in West Linn, OR where she grew up a Mariners fan and went to many, many games growing up with her parents and brother, David. She went to school at Oregon State and Arizona State before moving back home to Oregon. She also became a Padres fan while the Portland Beavers were still around. She now lives in Tualatin with her husband, Kirby and two daughters.
Mariner Games as a Kid
What do you remember most about baseball growing up?
“I mean, I guess just like growing up going to the Mariners games. When I was in middle school, we had the 40-game package. So we’d do the three-and-a-half hour drive every Thursday or Friday after school. And then we’d stay for the weekend and then drive back after the 1:00 game on Sunday.”
You did that every weekend? I drove to a Mariners game from Portland once, it took like 5 hours with traffic.
“Yeah, I remember one year my dad was sick and throwing up. And so my mom wouldn't drive, so we took an airplane. Our neighbor dropped us off at the airport and this is kind of crazy because I was just thinking about this the other day. We had our luggage for the hotel weekend and we put it in my dad's baseball seat because he wasn't there. But like, you couldn't do that today because you can't even bring bags in anymore.”
Did she not want to drive or she just doesn't do the driving?
“She just never did so we took a plane. It’s like a 40-minute airplane ride.”
So how many years did you do that?
“Probably like four. Until my brother started high school ball and then it like conflicted.
I remember now, at the Kingdome, we would go like 3 hours early to get the promotion. People would wrap around the Kingdome just to get a t-shirt or whatever. Do I have that stuff anymore? Maybe like two of the things, but it was so important back then. My brother did the Buhner Buzz Cut nights where you could get your hair shaved and it helped charity, I think.”
So your parents are big fans then, right? Or were you guys big fans?
“We all were. I mean, I kept the standings on my whiteboard in my bedroom.”
What got you into baseball?
“I think the family aspect of it. My mom definitely grew up with it. Her grandfather sponsored a Legion team in Portland. So my mom grew up going to those. Dale Murphy was one of his players, and it's just been cool to see, like, how they just had a 50th reunion this summer. And so my mom went to that and it was really like, I don't know. So it's been a part of her life. And then I don't think my dad really grew up playing. But he was a huge fan, too.
Like some of the other sports, you can hardly have a conversation because it's so loud, you know? I guess I like the mental part of it, almost like the slowness of it makes it more thought provoking and exciting. Versus like basketball, you're just running and trying to score. I mean, obviously you're setting up plays, but…”
But you’re still a big Portland Trailblazers fan right?
“Yeah, I guess that I wouldn't say I'm like an NBA fan, whereas I feel like I could go to any MLB game and be happy where as like if I was in LA or if I was in Denver, you know, like I wouldn't be like, oh, I want to go to a Nuggets game. But if I was in Denver and it was baseball season, I would for sure want to go to a baseball game there.
I think too with baseball, it's really cool how it's so up close and personal. You can go early and watch batting practice, and the kids can go get autographs and overall, like the players are just really, well, not all of them but, you know what I mean? Like just it's more personable.”
Who were your favorite players?
“I mean, Alex Rodriguez was probably like my favorite growing up, but it's a little tainted. Even just when he left the Mariners.”
Yeah. Who is your next favorite?
“Jay Buhner. I mean, like, obviously Griffey was really good, but I wouldn't think of him as my favorite. Randy Johnson was exciting. I really liked Jamie Moyer, too. I was bummed, because he was, like, a huge family man also. And then I heard they got a divorce like a couple of years ago.”
Portland Beavers
How did you get the ball girl gig for the Beavers in 2001?
“Yeah, so, I think I just mentioned it kind of as a joke. And my dad made a phone call and they're like, ok, we're gonna have a tryout on such and such day. And so I was like, ok, I've never played softball. All I've done is catch BP in the outfield for my brother. And then run the ball in ‘cause I can't throw. But then no one else applied, so they didn't have a tryout. So I got it. It was so fun. It was amazing.”
Did you make any good catches?
“I remember one time there was a line drive right by me and I was just like, praying, like, I just stuck my hand out and I didn't even feel myself catch it. I didn't even know that I caught it, but that's the one that I remember. But you have the beer garden, there was a wall so that the beer garden was indented into right field. A lot of balls would hit the indent and then bounce into the field, and I struggled with that. But a coach and one of the players had me come early a couple of times and, like just out of their own like kindness and we’d practice and then I kind of like got the angles.”
So that means that they were watching you during the season and they said, We need to help.’
“They were so kind. It was really cool. It was Roy Howell, who was a coach, and then Kevin Witt (the first baseman that season). I remember for my 16th birthday that summer, my mom did a surprise birthday party and my friends came to the game. I got my training in that one morning.”
And then you had all these Padres you became a fan of, too.
“It's fun to track your favorite names from wherever they go. In the morning, I’d grab my cereal and the newspaper and look at what happened the night before in the games and read the box scores. I went straight to the Mariners box score and then I tried to check out who I knew on the Padres. Sean Burroughs and Cesar Crespo for the Padres for a little bit -”
quick interruption
Sarah: “Ow that hurts. What is that?”
Kora: “A hammer.”
Sarah: “You're going to hit my leg with a hammer?”
“Anyways, with the Portland Beavers, when I was the ball girl, this woman found me on some forum and she messaged me because at the end of the year, they took a team picture and handed out the posters to all the fans and she said she was Matt Miller's mom and she wanted the poster. So she was wondering if I could grab one and mail it to her. So I did and we still keep in touch to this day. She's in her 70s and she's so sweet. We got married in January of 2014 and I invited her to our wedding, and she got married on the exact same day. She's like, ‘I can't come cause I'm getting married that day too.’
Jake Peavy and seeing Philip Humber’s Perfect Game
“Jake Peavy never played for the Portland Beavers he skipped triple-A. We met Jake was at spring training. Like one year we were just walking by and he threw us a ball. And then we asked what his name is. And then we saw him a few weeks later, and then the next year too. And I think, especially the younger guys, they really appreciate just the support when they're so brand new. They appreciate their fans."
And he still remembered you 10 years later at the White Sox spring training game.
“Oh yeah, you're right. He was walking on the concourse. He got us tickets for that season when the White Sox played in Seattle.”
You saw the perfect game. What was that like?
“I went with my dad. So I went to two games. For that perfect game I was in left field, but still there. It's cool, too. It was an away game for the perfect game pitcher, you know, like we're in Seattle, but it's cool how the fans are still excited over it just because they're seeing something that you don't get to see very often.”
Arizona Games
The 2001 World Series
“So I guess (Mariner games) that would be just like the the general best, but like if I pick one game, I would probably say the World Series in Arizona in 2001. Going to Game 1. It was incredible because it was right after 9/11 too. We were rooting for the Diamondbacks, but we were also fans with Scott Brosius on the Yankees because he's from near Portland (note: Hillsboro).”
“When I moved down to Arizona, I did the scorebook for the Scottsdale (Community College) Artichokes.”
Almost going to the 2023 World Series
“My mom really wanted to go to the game this year. She was like, ‘I'll pay for you guys to go.’ I really wanted to. My dad just passed away and she's like, ‘I just gotta go’, and my brother's like, “Can you go? Like, I can’t reschedule my meeting. I can't go, I have to be at work.’ And I'm like, ‘Well, I can't go, I have to be at work too. Like, what am I supposed to do? Just, like, get yourself to preschool girls so mom can go to the World Series.”
Being a Fan Today
“I married a Cubs fan.”
So are you a Cubs fan now, too?
“Yeah, I mean, like, I'll cheer for both of them. So we went to Chicago for like five games or something the summer, like that August when they won the World Series (in 2016). And that was really incredible. It was cool. Kirby has, like, a really good guy friend who is almost like an uncle to him. Kind of like he's a little bit older, but he passed away that summer and he was a huge, huge Cubs fan. So it's things like that too, that kind of trigger your memory and make things more special, too.
I wouldn't say like it's the biggest part of our marriage. But I also like that it gives us… like we love watching the sport together.”
Was that your first time in Wrigley? What do you think of it compared to… you've been to a few parks, I think, right?
“Yeah, like you walk down the street and people are just screaming and having a party which is fun, like for my husband and I. And didn't have kids yet, so that was fun. But like, you're not gonna go bar hopping as you're walking to the game with children.
I've been to Safeco and the Kingdome. That’s where our season tickets were when I was growing up. Chase Field. I've only been to the new Yankee Stadium. When I went to visit my best friend in Boston, I went to the Red Sox game and then I went to visit my friend in New York and we went to a Yankee game. I've been to Qualcomm and Petco and to Dodger Stadium.”
Which one’s your favorite? Is it the Kingdome?
“I mean, honestly, I think that’s where my best memories are. It's not the prettiest. Honestly, I think Safeco for one of the newer ones, I like the most. It feels the most homey. Yankee Stadium's cool, but it's just big and it’s kind of like, when you walk into like a really, really, really nice house, but you almost feel like you're in a museum and not a house. I feel like Safeco probably has the homiest feel.”
So you have 2 girls. How old are they now?
“Amelia will be 6 in May and Kora is 3 1/2. I'd say like our girls are starting way younger than I was. I don't think we started going really until I was like in 4th grade maybe, at least regularly. Well, I don't even know if we went before that. So I think they're still young. I think they just like being at the games. I mean, like, Amelia's favorite player is Julio (Rodriguez) and Kora’s favorite player is JP (Crawford). So like they have their ‘Julio!’ and ‘JP!’ chants that they just love.
We're taking them to spring training games this spring, and they've been before to spring training, but like, I think too. it'll be interesting to see… like having 2 girls, you know, I had a brother and I think baseball, you know, is more of a men's sport and going to his games, growing up… like my girls won't have a sibling to go to their games every Saturday. But if we only go up three times a year and you know, like I went to my brother's game every weekend too. So I was exposed to it a little bit more than I think they will be.”
The Mariners game after her dad passed away
“I mean, I really wanted the Mariners to win that season (2022), but they blew it in September. We went the end of September, like a week or two after he passed and it was spur of the moment. David was like, oh, we have to go because we're going to the Mariners game. He has a season ticket package now that he lives up there and mom was like, oh I want to go. So then it turned into all of us going and... there were just a few things that happened during the game that really made you remember him. And so like, it's it is a positive thing. It's good. It was a bright memory even though it sucks that he can't be there too.”
On baseball and being close with her family
“Yeah, I don't know. Like I've talked to it about it with my husband and with my brother, too. And it's like, I think a huge part of… I just think it's such a family thing that it was something that we all enjoyed. And I think families need something that they all enjoy together because I think when you're growing up, if you can appreciate spending time with your family, it keeps you out of trouble. And it doesn't necessarily have to be baseball, but as a family, if you can find something that you know you really like, that makes your children want to hang out with you and spend time with you, that's got to feel good. And hopefully keep them out of other things that maybe they shouldn't be doing.
I mean like, my husband didn't grow up with a really great family system and his found more trouble than I want our girls to find. So I think you need to create an environment somehow that makes your children want to be with you and to spend time with you and to make family time fun. And baseball was our fun thing to do together. It's like if your fun thing is camping or bowling or whatever, families just need that something. I really, like, feel like it was a huge part of... I don't know, being a good person.”
Takeaways
I knew Sarah has always been close with her family and in love with baseball, but I didn’t realize how much those things complemented each other until talking to her again. I don’t think she realized how big of an impact it had either until she started listing off all the things she’s done with baseball and her family.
The other thing that was interesting was when she mentioned how she wonders if her girls will be big baseball fans like her. They watch on tv and make trips to Seattle a couple times a year for Mariners games, but like she said, it was her younger brother playing growing up that kept baseball on the family calendar all the time. So she wasn’t just a fan, but also tracking stats, shagging BP, spending weekends at the parks.
Then I go back and remember how Lisa (read that one here) got really into the sport watching her brother play as a kid. And also how much having baseball around at a young age develops your fandom much deeper than later on. I’m sure they’ll catch on, it’s a Cubs/Padres/Mariners household so there’ll always be some level of baseball talk there.
Also my favorite story of all these interviews so far is Kevin Witt and a Beavers coach having Sarah come in early to get some infield practice. I can just picture the team sitting in the dugout during games, watching her struggle with a sharp ground ball off the beer garden wall a few times and someone deciding they needed to help. And then Kevin Witt went on to manage a few teams after his playing days ended, so maybe that’s where he honed his skills.