{"id":305,"date":"2026-08-16T19:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/?p=305"},"modified":"2026-08-16T19:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:46:17","slug":"the-day-tommy-john-gave-us-a-second-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/?p=305","title":{"rendered":"The Day Tommy John Gave Us a Second Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I learned that baseball great Tommy John had passed away, I immediately thought back to the day my family met him nearly forty years ago. What I remember most isn’t only the excitement of meeting a baseball hero. It is his extraordinary patience and kindness\u2014and one very embarrassing mistake I made with my camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my book, Paul’s Sweet Shop<\/em>, I had Paul remind a dad to make sure he had film in his camera before taking a birthday picture of his son. I included that little detail because of my own embarrassing experience the day my family met Tommy John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1987, when our younger son, Matt, turned ten, our gift to him was a day at Tommy John’s Baseball Camp in New Jersey. Even at ten, Matt loved playing and watching baseball, and we knew this would be something special for him.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Tommy<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had learned about the camp from my sister, Mavra. When she was a young adult, she had given horseback riding lessons to Tommy John’s children in New Jersey. She suggested that we bring Matt to the camp and told us she would personally introduce him to Tommy John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Tommy<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Tommy<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Front and back of the confirmation letter we got from the camp<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When the special day arrived, we got up really early, drove the two hours from Connecticut to New Jersey, picked up my sister, and headed to the camp for the 9:00 am start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stood in the registration line, where Tommy John himself was registering the children. When it was our turn, he looked up, saw Mavra, immediately jumped up, and gave her a hug. She introduced us, and we asked if we might take some pictures with him. He graciously told us that as soon as registration was finished, he would come find us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And true to his word, he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I happily started snapping pictures of Tommy John with my sons. Then I happened to look down at the camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no film in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was horrified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we were having this once-in-a-lifetime experience, Tommy John had taken the time to pose with our children, and I hadn’t taken a single picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t know where I found the courage, but I admitted what I had done and asked if we could leave, find someplace to buy film, and possibly take the pictures again later. I was absolutely mortified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tommy John couldn’t have been kinder. He simply told us it was no problem.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So while Matt participated in the camp, Stan and I drove around until we found a store that sold film. Remember, there were no cell phones or GPS systems back then and we had no idea where we were. We were lucky to find a store in this very rural area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the camp day, Tommy John once again took the time to pose for pictures with our children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those pictures became treasures, but so did the memory behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Brad, Matt, Tommy John, Mavra, Stan<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tara, Mavra, Tommy John, Matt, Stan, Brad<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Matt remembered a wonderful day at baseball camp. Brad, Matt, and Stan remembered meeting one of their baseball heroes. And I remembered the famous ballplayer who had every reason to say, “Sorry, you had your chance,” but didn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, he gave an embarrassed mother\u2014and her family\u2014a second chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these years later, that is what I remember most about Tommy John. He may have been a baseball hero to our family when we arrived at camp that morning, but by the time we left, we had also discovered that he was a true gentleman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And every time I tell someone to make sure there is film\u2014or these days, enough battery power\u2014in their camera, I think of him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I learned that baseball great Tommy John had passed away, I immediately thought back to the day my family met him nearly forty years ago. What I remember most isn’t only the excitement of meeting a baseball hero. It is his extraordinary patience and kindness\u2014and one very embarrassing mistake I made with my camera. In my book, Paul’s Sweet Shop, I had Paul remind a dad to make sure he had film in his camera before taking a birthday picture of his son. I included that little detail because of my own embarrassing experience the day my family met Tommy John. In 1987, when our younger son, Matt, turned ten, our gift to him was a day at Tommy John’s Baseball Camp in New Jersey. Even at ten, Matt loved playing and watching baseball, and we knew this would be something special for him. We had learned about the camp from my sister, Mavra. When she was a young adult, she had given horseback riding lessons to Tommy John’s children in New Jersey. She suggested that we bring Matt to the camp and told us she would personally introduce him to Tommy John. Front and back of the confirmation letter we got from the camp When the special day arrived, we got up really early, drove the two hours from Connecticut to New Jersey, picked up my sister, and headed to the camp for the 9:00 am start. We stood in the registration line, where Tommy John himself was registering the children. When it was our turn, he looked up, saw Mavra, immediately jumped up, and gave her a hug. She introduced us, and we asked if we might take some pictures with him. He graciously told us that as soon as registration was finished, he would come find us. And true to his word, he did. I happily started snapping pictures of Tommy John with my sons. Then I happened to look down at the camera. There was no film in it. I was horrified. Here we were having this once-in-a-lifetime experience, Tommy John had taken the time to pose with our children, and I hadn’t taken a single picture. I don’t know where I found the courage, but I admitted what I had done and asked if we could leave, find someplace to buy film, and possibly take the pictures again later. I was absolutely mortified. Tommy John couldn’t have been kinder. He simply told us it was no problem. So while Matt participated in the camp, Stan and I drove around until we found a store that sold film. Remember, there were no cell phones or GPS systems back then and we had no idea where we were. We were lucky to find a store in this very rural area. At the end of the camp day, Tommy John once again took the time to pose for pictures with our children. Those pictures became treasures, but so did the memory behind them. Brad, Matt, Tommy John, Mavra, Stan Tara, Mavra, Tommy John, Matt, Stan, Brad Matt remembered a wonderful day at baseball camp. Brad, Matt, and Stan remembered meeting one of their baseball heroes. And I remembered the famous ballplayer who had every reason to say, “Sorry, you had your chance,” but didn’t. Instead, he gave an embarrassed mother\u2014and her family\u2014a second chance. All these years later, that is what I remember most about Tommy John. He may have been a baseball hero to our family when we arrived at camp that morning, but by the time we left, we had also discovered that he was a true gentleman. And every time I tell someone to make sure there is film\u2014or these days, enough battery power\u2014in their camera, I think of him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pauls-sweet-shop","category-sharing-family-stories","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tinytalesbytara.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WithTommyJohn.jpg?fit=300%2C194&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinytalesbytara.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}