For Mariners' video ops assistant, Lou Gehrig Day hits close to home
SEATTLE -- When it was his turn to share a quote of the day during the Mariners’ daily meeting at Spring Training, Justin Broffman channeled both Martin Luther King Jr. and his grandfather, who passed away before he was born.
Because there’s a connection between those two that is incredibly unique and everlasting. And the quote itself is one that Broffman -- the Mariners’ Major League video operations assistant -- believes still has profound impact.
It also speaks to how he views the world, in and away from the game.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Those words were within MLK’s iconic sermon titled “Loving Your Enemies,” delivered in 1957, just a few years before Broffman’s grandfather -- the late Morton Broffman -- was ascending his career as a documentary photographer of the American Civil Rights Movement and other social and political initiatives.
Morton Broffman would go on to capture some of the era’s most defining images -- including King during the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 1965. It’s a picture that is among the most well associated with MLK and is seared into the fabric of that defining moment and how it’s remembered.
Which brings us back to that morning meeting in Arizona a few months ago.
To break up the monotony of Spring Training, the Mariners have encouraged at least one player, coach or staff member to speak up during the daily clubhouse gathering, before drills begin. It’s a way to create team unity, but more so, to allow everyone to get to know organizational figures with whom they might not regularly cross paths.
Most guys knew Justin at this point, but few knew about his grandfather -- his philanthropic efforts and that he passed away in 1992, before Justin was born, at the age of 64 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“The things I've heard about who he was as a person growing up and who I wanted to become kind of just stuck with me to try to bring it back into that quote,” Justin said, “and shine a little light on some of the photos and stuff he took as well.”
Justin has spent a lifetime gleaning inspiring values from his grandfather, and he shared many of them during an extended conversation leading into Lou Gehrig Day, which MLB recognized on Tuesday.
The annual commemoration -- which unifies the baseball community to honor those lost, support families and accelerate the fight for a cure -- obviously hits home for the Broffman family. And as such, Justin asked to join the club’s planning committee for this year’s event.
“Even before I was working in baseball, just as a baseball fan, Lou Gehrig Day meant everything to my family,” Broffman said, “because it was like that bridge we felt, where you could go and you could click away from everything. But at the same time, it was a way where, once a year, everyone in this entire sport came together and focused on one thing, and that to me is just beyond greatness.”
Broffman is in his third season with the Mariners, assisting in all aspects of the club’s video operations, including on the Minors side.
Baseball has always been his passion, but video is an area that didn’t truly pique his interest until he graduated from James Madison University in 2021 -- and one that also draws parallels to his grandfather.
He landed an internship shortly after he graduated at InsideEdge, a leading data company that many MLB coaches, broadcasters and others use to harness analytics. In 2022 he landed another internship -- this one with the Brewers’ Single-A affiliate in North Carolina -- after sending hundreds of blind emails to clubs, looking for any opportunity.
Then, ahead of the 2024 season, the door opened with the Mariners.
“I'm just trying to wear as many hats as I can,” Broffman said. “But at the end of the day, it's a lot of that preparation for the coaches, for the players, getting them the materials they need. And then in addition, kind of helping with that data-tracking technology.”
Upon arriving at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday, Broffman’s first call was to his father -- Morton’s son -- to remember his legacy.
Most of the memories Broffman has of his grandfather are through the pictures that the world sees in perpetuity, which is why this day -- and bringing awareness to the ravages of this disease -- means so much to him and his family.
“That's the biggest thing, is getting the world smart on how horrible this thing is, so that people know how serious you know of a mission it is to end it.”