This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SEATTLE -- Bryan Woo still remembers his time in the ICU vividly.
For how terrifying it was, but also for the thoughtful care of the medical staff that helped him and his family navigate what remains one of their toughest life challenges.
So, when the Mariners’ electric right-hander pushed to create more individual connection with the Pacific Northwest community entering this season, he had a very specific demographic and cause in mind, which was brought to life on Wednesday.
Woo welcomed to T-Mobile Park two cancer patients from Seattle Children’s Hospital -- Charlotte Malone, 11, and Cooper Anderson, 12, as well as their families. But it was the youngsters who presented Woo with gifts of a lifetime, which brought him to tears.
Charlotte and Cooper were among two dozen patients who designed three pairs of custom cleats that highlighted their artistic creativity but also Woo’s personality.
And he debuted one of the sets in Thursday's start against the Orioles, when he dominated over seven scoreless innings and lifted the Mariners to a 3-0 win.
What stood out even more from that outing was that, despite the day ending on a frustrating walk, Woo's postgame reaction was far more at ease than ever. He suggested the correlation of being more grounded to the emotional gathering the day prior.
“It's definitely just perspective, just what's important,” Woo said. “Baseball is such a small part of my life, but your health and your family and that stuff is just so much more important.”
After Woo’s public profile skyrocketed during an All-Star season in 2025, he wanted to leverage his impact even further.
Drawing from a recent such event held by former Mariners infielder Justin Turner in 2024, as well as a reverse-card signing orchestrated by Mitch Haniger that same year, Woo took a lead on connecting with Seattle Children’s through the Mariners' community outreach staff and his representatives at Apex Baseball.
“I love shoes, and I love just style and clothing,” Woo said, “and to be able to kind of have them combine all that stuff together into one final product was also really cool.”
Around Opening Day, Woo shipped the three pairs of cleats to the hospital and encouraged patients, essentially, to go wild. And for the kids, the design component was an avenue to channel therapy in a non-clinical way.
“Some of them wrote or drew something deeply personal,” said Ashley Speller, communications manager for Seattle Children’s, citing the cancer ribbon that was painted on one set of the cleats.
“The therapeutic part of just doing something else -- something different, something that is just new and maybe fun or exciting,” Woo said. “Whether they're artistic or not, it's just something to maybe break up their day, and hopefully, they'll get to see it on TV, and have some pride about it.”
When he was 18 years old and back home in the East Bay from Cal Poly during Thanksgiving break, Woo spent a month in the hospital recovering from Lemierre syndrome -- a rare but life-threatening complication of bacterial sore throats and tonsillitis.
And he was actually admitted to a children’s hospital in Oakland, based on his age and care provided.
His situation began as strep throat, but the area became infected and led to a blood clot in his neck that limited oxygen to his brain. It took extended tests to finally discover a diagnosis, and what he estimated was six months to fully recover. But he wound up playing baseball the next season.
“The time and hours that the doctors and nurses were putting in to just even figure out what was wrong with me,” Woo said, “and also like once I was in there, really just go above and beyond to help me feel seen and taken care of.”
It’s why Wednesday's collaboration will likely be the first of many with Seattle Children’s.
“It's weird to think about the fact that I have some sort of status and weight of responsibility to do those things,” Woo said. “But it's a really cool opportunity that you get the chance to impact lives here in Seattle. ... When you do stuff like this, it's like a breath of fresh air.”