Jameson Pennings
The assignment was to bring home a baseball. But by giving it away, Jameson Pennings gained so much more.
The Pennings are Phillies fans. His mom, Eve, noticed at a game early this year that when Phillies Ballgirls retrieved a foul ball, they tossed it to one of the kids seated nearby.
Eve thought it would be fun to attend a game with the goal of bringing home one of those balls. So, she searched out a pair of tickets for Jameson and his dad, James, in a section near the ballgirl for a game in September versus the Mets. At the end of the fifth inning, one of the Mets rolled the ball to the ballgirl near Jameson. She tossed it to him.
“I felt REALLY good,” he said. Assignment complete.
Or so he thought. His real mission had just begun.
About 15 minutes later, he heard a woman from the next section talking to the ballgirl. She was attending with her mom, Donna Morey, celebrating her 80th birthday, and wondered if Mom could have the next ball. Without really thinking, Jameson says, “I made a promise to myself that if she didn’t get the next ball, I’d give mine to her. We have a lot more time to come to games. Maybe she doesn’t.”
The next opportunity came early in the ninth inning. Again, the ballgirl shared it with a youngster.
“Jameson put his head in his lap for about 5 seconds, then he got up,” James says. “I thought he had to go to the bathroom, but he said, ‘No I’m going to give this to that woman.’ I followed his lead and went over to her.”
Donna says she was “absolutely amazed. I was just blessed to be at this (game) with him. Really, I think it was meant to be.”
James and Jameson heard cheering from the upper deck – Donna’s family recording and applauding the moment. The ballgirl noticed, too. When she got another foul ball in the ninth, she held it. At the end of the game, she stared at Jameson until he caught her eye, then gave it to him.
“I felt really good,” Jameson says, “Again.”
When the two shared their excellent adventure with Eve, “I wasn’t necessarily shocked because Jameson has a heart of gold,” she says. “These days, people hesitate to do an act of kindness, especially for a stranger. It was kind and sweet.”
Donna’s family reached out to Philadelphia’s Fox affiliate to share their video and story. From there, the story appeared nationwide. Since then, Jameson has been showered with tokens of appreciation: autographed Phillies baseball cards, game worn jersey patches, even an offer for a boat ride “the next time we’re in Tokyo.” And a Musial.
To James, the story’s broad impact lies in its ability to touch the good that’s not always apparent. “People have a good heart way more often than a bad heart,” he says. “Why we find ourselves attracted to the negative, I don’t know. But I think people need a dose of love in their life. They see it, and they want to share it.”
To Jameson, it’s way simpler: “If you see somebody do something good, it makes you want to do something good. That’s just how it works.”