When did you start rooting for George Springer? I started rooting for George Springer when I was 6 years old. I was already a huge baseball fan and the Astros were my favorite team then. I knew who George Springer was, but once I found out that he stuttered like me it made him my favorite player forever!
Once he got traded, did you still root for him? Yes! I was excited when he signed with the Blue Jays. I’ll always cheer for George Springer wherever he plays! The Blue Jays are my favorite team now, they have an awesome team.
How many times have you met him? I have been so lucky to officially meet George Springer three times now. I got to talk to him twice in Anaheim at Angel Stadium and once when I went to a Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre in Toronto. I also got to do an interview with him on the MLB Network one time to talk about stuttering, which was a really awesome experience. Ever since I first met George in 2019, I go to see him play every time the Blue Jays come to Angel Stadium. I bring my same “Springer, I Stutter Too” sign and I sit by where he plays in right field. He always waves at me, runs over to quickly ask me how I am, or give me a high five. He is always so nice to me!
What did he say to you about stuttering? George always tells me to embrace it and that it is okay to stutter. He says I should embrace my stuttering, enjoy life, and not let something that I can’t control stop me from being who I want to be or from saying what I want to say. I got “Embrace It” embroidered onto my own baseball glove to always remind me of the advice he gave me.
How do you feel knowing an All-Star like him also stutters?
Knowing that an MLB star like George Springer stutters like me is so inspiring to me. Before I first met George, I felt really alone with my stuttering because I had never met someone else who stutters. For him to take the time to talk to me about stuttering and encourage me has really changed how I feel about my stuttering. Plus, I love to play baseball and I wear #4 just like George. It is so cool that right now in the playoffs and World Series I get to watch my favorite player make baseball history, and then get to watch him go and talk to all the reporters on television all over the world. It is so cool and inspiring to watch him embrace his own stuttering – just like he tells me to do -- as he talks to the reporters. George Springer really is my hero on the field and off for all the support he gives to kids who stutter.
How do you feel about working on stuttering with Loryn McGill? Miss Loryn is also awesome. She is the one speech therapist who has always taught me it is okay to stutter. She teaches me to always speak up for myself and disclose my stuttering to others. Like, it was her idea that I should make a sign to tell George Springer that I stutter like him. She helped me have the courage to make that sign tell everyone in the stadium that I stutter, because I was nervous about it at first! Sometimes I am more okay with my stuttering and sometimes I really don’t like it, but Miss Loryn is always supportive and encourages me that I can do anything.
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