LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 1: George Springer #4 of the Houston Astros reacts after scoring in the first inning of Game 7 of the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alex TrautwigMLB Photos via Getty Images)
Houston Astros‘ George Springer was a big reason why the Astros ended up winning the 2017 World Series. After all, he managed to hit six home runs in the 2017 MLB playoffs, with five of those homers coming in the World Series. As a result, he can be considered a superhero for so many different reasons.
According to ftw.usatoday.com, Springer is like “Superman” for kids who stutter.
Springer is here filming promotional material for the Stuttering Association for the Young, or SAY. Wearing an athletic jersey with his name and number on the back and CAMPSAY across the chest, he interacts warmly with a group of four kids involved in SAY programs on hand for the shoot — posing for selfies, cracking jokes, answering questions.
The outfielder became SAY’s first official national spokesperson during his rookie season in 2014, not long after the association’s founder, Taro Alexander, caught a clip of Springer speaking in a postgame interview. Among its services to young people who stutter, SAY provides speech therapy, but the organization emphasizes the importance of having the confidence to speak with a stutter. In the rookie Springer, Alexander recognized not just a fellow person who stutters, but a young role model unafraid of the spotlight.
“It was the most amazing thing, to see instantly how comfortable he was with himself, how truly comfortable he was in his skin,” Alexander says. “I have stuttered since I was five years old, and I have never seen someone in the public eye being so comfortable with stuttering — not saying, ‘I stuttered as a kid but now I’ve conquered it,’ saying, ‘Yeah, I stutter; it’s a part of who I am, but it’s not going to define who I am, and it’s not going to hold me back from doing anything.’”
During the regular season, Springer recorded a .283 batting average, 34 homers and 85 RBIs. While Houston was stacked (that tends to be the case for a team that wins the World Series), Springer was a big reason why the Astors saw ultimate success this past season, from winning 101 games during the regular season to being the last time standing, if you will, in the playoffs.
More from the ftw.usatoday.com article mentioned above:
“When he walked in here today, and you saw their faces light up, it’s like literally seeing Superman walk into the room,” Alexander says. “Look at him — he’s Superman. And he talks the way that we talk, and he’s not shying away from the limelight, not shying away from Saturday Night Live, not shying away from interviews.
“They have the ability to say, ‘I saw George Springer last night win the World Series for the Houston Astros, and then I saw him give an interview, and I saw him stutter. If he can do that in front of the whole world, then maybe tomorrow in my third-grade class I can raise my hand and finally give an answer. I can say, ‘yeah, I stutter — just like George Springer.’”
To read the entire ftw.usatoday.com article, make sure to follow this link.
Springer, for so many different reasons, is a superhero.
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