Boards hit home run with Cleveland Guardians player

HURON — A local double-play duo gifted a Cleveland Guardians player with special items as a "thank you" for his recent generosity. The father-son combination of Spencer Patterson and his son, Ledger, 9, together created a pair of one-of-a-kind cornhole boards for Angel Martinez. Best of all, they personally delivered them to the versatile second baseman/center fielder on Sunday before a Major League Baseball game at Progressive Field in Cleveland. In fact, the entire Huron-based Patterson family — mother/wife Amber; father/husband Spencer; and their four children Elliahana, Maelynn, Ledger and Leighton — received exclusive on-field access for a meet-and-greet session with him. They then witnessed a historic feat for Martinez's Guardians. Working together Spencer, a skilled craftsman, and Ledger, 9, who's following in his father's footsteps, created the boards. "They took us about six to eight hours to finish," said Spencer, who's turned his woodworking hobby into a side hustle under the business name BuiltBySpence. Spencer then explained the origins of these boards. "A couple of months ago, my family and I were at a Guards game when they were playing the A's," Spencer said. "The players were tossing the balls in between innings, and (Angel) tossed one right at me in our section. I, of course, gave it to my son. It made his day." In a sign of appreciation, the father-son duo "thought it'd be cool to make a set of custom boards that were designed with Angel and the Guards in mind," Spencer said. On the boards: • One shows a grinning Martinez in a pose, likely for a team portrait or a baseball card. • Another shows him rounding the bases in a 4-0 defeat over the New York Yankees on June 4. In that contest, Martinez smashed a decisive home run to secure a shutout victory. Meeting up But how exactly did they arrange to give these boards to Martinez? "After making the boards, we really had no idea how we were going to get the boards to him," Spencer said. "My wife has a pretty big following on our TikTok page (@followthepattersons), so she reached out from her account. And I reached out on Instagram." Both Amber and Spencer received responses, informing them their entire family could see and speak with Martinez before Sunday's contest against the Texas Rangers. "We bought tickets to the last game of the regular season, and Angel got us access to batting practice before the game where we were able to meet him, get Ledger's ball signed and deliver the boards," Spencer said. Martinez flashed a wide smile upon receiving the boards and meeting all six Pattersons. "He said he really appreciated us being supportive fans," Spencer said. "He told Ledger if he decides to get back into baseball in the near future to reach out to him, and he would fully support him." Making history Beyond the boards, Martinez had plenty of reasons to feel fortunate and happy. For the second consecutive season, and in Martinez's first two years as a big-leaguer, the Guardians captured the American League Central Division title. In fact, Cleveland clinched the division title on Sunday — and a three-run, game-ending home run by Brayan Rocchio sealed a thrilling, come-from-behind 9-8 victory. Martinez himself scored two runs and had a base hit. At one point this season, Cleveland trailed their interdivisional rivals, the Detroit Tigers, by 15.5 games in the standings. And, as recently as Sept. 10, Cleveland had a 0.1% chance to win the division, which guarantees a playoff spot. They trailed those very Tigers, who had a 99.9% chance to win the central division. In the end, Cleveland — going from 40-48 midway through 2025 to a final record of 88-74 — caught the Tigers to win the division and return to the postseason. No team in Major League Baseball history has overcome a larger deficit to win a division. Since baseball went to divisional play in 1969, the biggest deficit erased had been 14 games by the 1978 New York Yankees. Detroit, however, still won enough games to make the playoffs as a wild-card team. As luck would have it, the Tigers and Guardians match up, once again, in the playoffs, a rematch from last year's October confrontation, won by Cleveland. And, during the past two weeks, Cleveland has defeated Detroit in five of the six games they've played against one another. The opening-round postseason round takes place Tuesday (1:08 p.m.) ESPN with Cleveland hosting Detroit. Many fans, including the Pattersons, will be tuned in, hoping the Guardians franchise can win its first World Series title since 1948 — the longest championship drought in all of Major League Baseball. "Honestly, timing-wise, this worked out extremely well," Spencer said. "I never would have thought I'd get an opportunity to present these boards to Angel Martinez on the last game of the regular season and the day we clinch a playoff berth," Spencer said. "This was an amazing and unforgettable moment for us."