Angels Call Up 1B Jeff Fowler

     I remember Owen getting his first baseball glove from Uncle Jeff. To be honest, I was jealous. I did not even know what it was or what it did but I wanted one. Just a month or two later, Uncle Jeff had granted my wish and he said he would come to my house the next day to play baseball.

     I was so excited. I got up nice and early so we could play because it was my assumption that Uncle Jeff would just rush over to my house when I was up and ready to play. As a 5-year-old, I was quite disappointed when before 7 o’clock in the morning Uncle Jeff wasn't awake, at my house, with his glove, ready to play.

     I vaguely remember waking up my dad to ask him where Uncle Jeff was and Dad not being very happy, but understanding. I wanted to know all about my glove because although I had been told all about it the night before, I did not remember.

     I asked my dad if I could call Uncle Jeff and somehow got a yes. This was late 1997/1998 so I had to go into the kitchen and grab the corded phone, get the phone number and call him. I asked him who had signed my glove and what team he played for.

     “Greg Maddux” he said and the “Atlanta Braves” was the team he played for. Uncle Jeff was willing to be patient with me even at the ungodly hour I was calling him. To top it off, Uncle Jeff promised that he would still come over and play with me that morning.

     At the time, our backyard had mulch covering the flat portion of the yard so Dad, Uncle Jeff, and I (and we’ll go easy on the “I”) pushed the mulch to the sides of the yard so that we would have an even surface for the ball to bounce.

     I did not understand why Uncle Jeff made catching the baseball look so easy and why I was having so much difficulty. He told me I was going to need to practice, so that’s what I did…almost every day.

     Uncle Jeff was right. With every day of practice, I got a little bit better.

     So I want to thank Uncle Jeff one of the greatest gifts he ever could have given me, a work ethic. I use it every single day and will continue to practice and get better as much as I can. A work ethic is something will be able to pass that to my children and hopefully my nephews too.

     I love you and miss you Uncle Jeff. Rest in Peace.

January 28, 1965 - March 23, 2013