Dear David,
I just wanted to say thank you.
I know you’re not playing a whole lot these days. John McDonald is wielding his magic glove again, and Cito is scribbling his name in the lineup more often than not.
But that didn’t stop you from coming through in Boston this weekend. You’ve showed once again why you’re an MVP (most valuable person) in big league baseball.
Many baseball fans across Canada were watching our broadcast from Boston back in April when you choked up on the bat with two strikes and fouled a rocket over the Red Sox dugout. The ball hit a young boy named Derek Murdza flush in the right eye. Put him in hospital for a week.
Of course, you knew that. By the time I’d reached the first aid station at Fenway Park to check on the boys’ condition, you’d already come and gone. You got there quicker than Usain Bolt.
So when the Jays finally rolled back into Boston after over three months playing elsewhere, you made sure little Derek would feel comfortable coming back to a baseball stadium.
Derek was beaming when you gave him that bat and thrilled when he got to go in the clubhouse. I could tell he’d fully recovered when he came up to our broadcast booth and mastered a Jerry Howarth imitation ("Yes sir!"). And his parents sure appreciated the second set of tickets you left after the first game was rained out.
Derek is going to be fine, and the sight in his eye is slowly coming back. He’s got the Red Sox in his blood, and says Big Papi is his favourite player, but I guarantee he’ll never forget David Eckstein.
Sincerely,
Jamie Campbell
