Lakeside eighth grader Kevin Dean Jr. had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity earlier this year as he threw out the first pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals game.
The 13-year-old took to the mound at Busch Stadium to throw out the first pitch for Dizzy Dean Watch Promo Day on Aug. 19 as the Cardinals took on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Dean, the son of Kevin Dean and Lea Rodgers, is the great-grandson of Paul "Daffy" Dean and the great-great-nephew of Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean.
"We've kept a strong relationship with the Cardinals throughout the years," his father said. "They contacted us when they were having Dizzy Dean Watch Promo Day to see if we'd like to come up. I wasn't able to go, but they mentioned something to my father, Sandy Dean, ... about going up and having Kevin go up and throw out the first pitch."
The younger Dean was told by his grandfather about the opportunity after several veiled references from other family members.
He admits that he was excited, it was stressful as well.
"It was pretty stressful," he said. "I did my best, and it was really fun for me. It was a good experience.
"The day was really exciting. We didn't get there before, but we got there pretty early. We only got to meet one player -- Mike Mayers."
The weight of the moment was not lost on the younger Dean.
"When I first got on the field, I was thinking, 'I have to do this. It'll be a great milestone in my history, so I can tell everybody about it.' It was just really fun to do."
While the elder Dean was not able to attend the game, he had his own brush with a baseball great as a child.
"My first trip to Busch, when I was 11 or 12 years old, I met Pete Rose as a child," he said. "That was when he was a manager/player for the Philadelphia Phillies. We lived in Clarksville, Ark., at the time; they did a write-up and a picture with me and Pete Rose in their paper. I know what it did for me as a child."
While Dean does not play baseball currently, he plans to start playing USSSA baseball this spring. Kevin has two siblings, Riley and Bo, who are both in the fifth grade at Lakeside.
Sports on 11/21/2018