CLEVELAND — On Monday, Spencer Strider walked to Progressive Field – for work. This time, he was not a young, Cleveland-crazed boy going to watch his idols. He was not the diehard fan soaking up the summer sun at a ballgame and hoping to one day be in the shoes of those on the field.
Now, he is Spencer Strider, major league player, All-Star ace of the Braves.
“It was very surreal, emotional,” Strider said. “It’s kind of what I always wanted as a kid. To walk around the stadium and see the places I would sit around and wait to come into the park, and now I get to go and walk on the field and stuff, it’s fun. And to be here with these guys and on this team makes it even cooler.”
We all have that one place that symbolizes the beginning of a dream. The moment we knew we wanted to do something in life. For Strider, that place is Progressive Field. In a way, it represents the beginning of a journey. And his return to the ballpark – this time as someone who has achieved his dream – comes with the pride of knowing he made it.
“Everybody’s probably got that inception moment of when they were like, ‘Hey, I want to be a major league baseball player’ or ‘This is something that’s accessible to me,’” Strider said. “For me, it was coming here and just rooting for Cleveland and that desire that, ‘I want to be part of this, I want to play here. And the only way I can do that is to play major league baseball.’ I’m not somebody that necessarily just sort of could pick up a ball and be good, I had to work for it. There’s bit of gratification just to know that this persevere through some adversity a little bit and sacrifice and things to get here.”
Strider grew up in Tennessee, but Cleveland is special to him. His family is from Rocky River, a city about 15 minutes west of Cleveland. His grandfather was a teacher in the area, so Strider’s mother and uncle were born here. His grandparents later moved to Columbus, Ohio, but his uncle still lives in Rocky River.
When Strider was younger, he would spend around a month of his summer in Rocky River. The place is familiar to him.
He loves Cleveland. In terms of destinations, many people think about Hawaii or Florida, Italy or Greece, and on and on. In his bio on Clemson’s athletics website, Strider listed his ideal vacation spot as Cleveland.
“To me, there’s nothing wrong with it,” Strider said. “It’s a perfect place. To come back here, and kind of earn my way here, is cool.”
Strider’s first memory at Progressive Field came in 2006, when he attended a Cleveland game versus the Angels. He was 8 years old. He got an autograph from Mike Napoli, then a rookie for the Angels, while waiting down the left-field line. Strider’s uncle knew Slider, the club’s mascot, and Slider came over to mess with Strider. Cleveland lost, but Strider had a blast.
“It seemed like a different planet,” Strider said of the experience.
Casey Blake was young Strider’s favorite player. “He was bigger than life to me,” Strider said. Blake wore No. 1. Like Strider at the time, he played third base.
Eventually, Strider loved Corey Kluber, Francisco Lindor, CC Sabathia, Justin Masterson and Jason Kipnis.
“There’s so many guys that they’re like gods to me in a way,” Strider said. “It’s cool to just kind of walk around where they were.”
On Monday, Strider woke up early and hung out with his family before heading to the ballpark. On Tuesday, he got up early again and, because his family had other plans, walked around the city before going to the park.
For Strider, this experience has been filled with tons of neat moments. On Monday, he talked with Tom Hamilton, the voice of the Guardians. As a kid, Strider used to listen to Hamilton on the radio in his room. At the ballpark, Strider saw the visitors’ dugout and clubhouse.
He has had “quite a bit” of family at the series. And they know people who regularly attend games and have said: I remember seeing Spencer when he was a kid.
Now, Strider is a big leaguer. Progressive Field is his office. Unfortunately, Strider will need to wait to pitch at Progressive Field – he missed it by a day, as he started Sunday’s series finale versus the Marlins at Truist Park. But there’s a positive here: Not pitching means he is somewhat off and is able to take everything in without worrying about a start.
Of course, his family is proud to see him here. In particular, Strider said his wife, Maggie, has been excited to be here.
“My wife’s been pretty geeked out about it, just for me, trying to sell Cleveland to her when we started dating and stuff in high school,” Spencer said. “We came here in 2019 together, and it was her first major-league game. Just for her to see how much that meant to me and kind of understand, ‘Ah, this guy’s pretty serious about baseball.’ And then not that long later, we’re here for work.”
When Maggie went to Progressive Field four years ago, she didn’t know how many strikes were in a strikeout. She wondered about walks and what they were. Now she knows about both strikeouts and walks and can even differentiate pitch types.
“We’re still working on peripheral stats and advanced metrics, but we’ll get there eventually,” Spencer said. “Hopefully she’ll be doing some scouting for us here in the near future.”
In less than a week, Strider will be in Seattle for his first All-Star game, which is a testament to his journey. He already is one of the better starting pitchers in baseball because of his electric stuff and tireless dedication to his craft.
Years ago, he was a kid at Progressive Field with a dream.
“It’s like another level has been unlocked,” Strider said of his Progressive Field return being extra special. “So it’s cool. Every little part of it’s been neat.”
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