BALTIMORE — A lifelong fan of the Baltimore Orioles, 11-year-old Blake Wheatley of Cambridge has developed a distaste for his favorite team’s rivals such as the New York Yankees.
But on Thursday and Friday, Wheatley, his father, Adam, and his cousin were guests of the Yankees, who invited Blake Wheatley to Yankees Stadium in New York City to spend time with manager Aaron Boone as both share a congenital heart condition.
“I still like the Orioles, but I like the Yankees more than I used to,” Blake Wheatley conceded Saturday morning.
Wheatley, a middle infielder and right-handed pitcher for the Mid Atlantic Shockers who began playing tee ball when he was 4, had run a lap inside an indoor tennis facility and began to stretch with his teammates during a practice on Feb. 21 when he suddenly fainted. Adam Wheatley, who works for a transportation app company, said his son was motionless, sweating profusely, and had a racing heartbeat.
Blake Wheatley was taken to Dorchester General Hospital where medical experts thought he was underhydrated. But the hospital referred him to the University of Maryland Cardiology department where he was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve issue, a congenital defect where the valve has only two leaflets instead of three that open and close to regulate blood flow.
Adam Wheatley said treatment involves some simple changes in his dietary routine such as drinking plenty of fluids and adding salt to his food to help retain water. His son also cannot participate in contact sports such as football or strenuous weight training or other forms of exercise such as soccer or long-distance running.
Blake Wheatley, however, can still play baseball. In fact, it’s the safest sport for him, Adam Wheatley said, because it’s not endurance. Still, the initial diagnosis took a toll on the youth’s outlook.
“He struggled with the news at first,” Adam Wheatley said, noting that his son is a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson and had looked forward to playing tackle football for the first time. “He was pretty down and kind of in denial, saying he felt fine and that he could play football.”
After learning that Boone also suffered from a bicuspid aortic valve condition, Adam Wheatley reached out to the Yankees and asked if the manager could share a few encouraging words with Blake. The franchise instead invited him to the stadium as part of the organization’s HOPE (Helping Others Persevere & Excel) Week, an initiative now in its 12th edition of highlighting the stories of individuals to inspire others into action in their own communities.
Although Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels was washed out by rain, Blake Wheatley tossed a baseball with Boone and former Orioles pitcher Zack Britton Friday afternoon. Britton taught Wheatley how to grip and throw his trademark sinker and gave Wheatley and his cousin each a pair of autographed cleats.
Boone and right fielder Aaron Judge each signed a baseball and a batting glove with the latter signing a ball the Wheatleys had caught off Judge’s bat during the Home Run Derby before the 2017 All-Star Game. Blake Wheatley met designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and shortstop Gleyber Torres, and hitting coach Marcus Thames had Wheatley take part in batting practice.
“I enjoyed having a catch with good people, people who are good enough to make it there,” said Blake Wheatley, who turns 12 in October. “I was just proud to be there and have fun.”
His father — who has taken Blake Wheatley to 13 different MLB stadiums as part of a father-son series of trips — praised the Yankees for “going above and beyond” his expectations.
“It was pretty emotional for me, just being able to see him some smile and take some confidence out of it that he’s not alone and that the Yankees took to his story and showed him that people care,” Adam Wheatley said. “He was over the moon with excitement.”
The Wheatleys had contributed to their community in 2018 when Adam Wheatley was nominated as “Man of the Year” by a local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for raising funds. Seeking to help his father, Blake Wheatley created “K’s for a Cure,” asking people to pledge money for every strikeout he recorded and raising more than $1,500.
Rain wiped out an opportunity for Blake Wheatley to throw the first pitch before Friday’s game against the New York Mets. But that paled in comparison to what he had experienced for two days.
“That wasn’t really disappointing,” he said. “I would have been happy to do it, but I had fun all along, meeting all the people and going on the tour. First pitch would have been special, but it’s fine.”
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