This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
DETROIT -- A young Jakob Marsee routinely frequented the third-base railing at Comerica Park over the years, seeking autographs from his favorite Tigers, Miguel Cabrera and Pudge Rodríguez.
One day postgame, as Marsee waited for players near Detroit’s dugout, he pointed out to the field and told his younger brother, Mason, that would be him one day.
On Friday night, Marsee’s vision came true as a member of the Marlins.
“Still have that picture on my phone,” Marsee said. “… He was looking up to me at the time. He's like, ‘Yeah, you are.’ And now reality, it's kind of crazy that I said that and it happened.”
Baseball has always been a presence in the Marsee family, and all corners of Comerica Park became a home away from home.
They tried to go to as many games as possible, living only 15 minutes away from the ballpark in the city of Allen Park -- if Marsee’s own ballgames didn’t get in the way. One of Marsee’s childhood friends had a parent who got tickets through work, so they sometimes sat above the first-base dugout. It also became tradition to visit on Marsee’s birthday (June 28), when he could enjoy hot dogs and his favorite ice cream, all from the upper deck.
“This is a kid that, the day before his second birthday, he was playing on his older brother [Tyler]'s tee-ball team,” his mother Shannon said. “I remember when he'd get his pajamas on or get dressed, he'd use his shirt and swing it like a bat. He always was playing. As much as I want to say, ‘We knew,’ it's so big [of a dream] that you don't know. That's not a real thing.”
Tyler, an amateur MMA fighter who is two years older, somewhat disagreed.
“I figured he'd be here, to be honest,” Tyler said while sporting a teal No. 87 Marsee jersey. “I figured it'd happen at some point. Not really too shocked. He just works too hard. I don't know. He loves it more than anybody I've ever seen. I always just thought he'd be here. I'm not shocked by any of it.”
Marsee expected upwards of 500 people from all walks of his life to watch him play each day of the weekend, but this wasn’t the first time a large gathering of supporters saw him on the road.
Last Aug. 13 in Cleveland, Marsee went deep twice and tallied a career-high seven RBIs, as both of his homers landed fairly close to the family’s cheering section.
Playing in his hometown hits different, though. It finally dawned on Marsee, who got emotional while answering questions from local media ahead of Friday night’s series opener.
“When I think about MLB, I always thought about playing at Comerica," Marsee said. "So getting to go there, and then having my family there and everything -- it's literally a dream come true, just being able to play there, be at home, literally everything. When you grow up, that's what you think about.”
Because the Marlins’ hotel is relatively far from the downtown ballpark, Marsee has stayed at his childhood home over the weekend. Marsee ate at Sammy’s Pizza with the family on Thursday night after the team arrived, then woke up in his own bed in the basement on Friday morning. He hit with his dad, Ken, and Mason before heading to the ballpark.
Perhaps that familial love will help snap an early-season slump largely marked by tough luck at the plate.
“I said to him, ‘What are your feelings right now?’” Shannon recalled. “And he's like, ‘It was just cool waking up at home.’”
As fate would have it, Marsee isn’t the only member of the family who will play at Comerica Park this month.
Mason, the same sibling to whom Marsee foretold his destiny so many years ago, is scheduled for an Allen Park High varsity game at the Tigers’ ballpark on April 24. Nine years younger than Jakob, Mason is a sophomore outfielder/first baseman.
“Growing up, he always came to these games, and it was kind of just crazy once he got the callup, and now that he's here,” Mason said. “It's just surreal.”