Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia made his long-awaited return to baseball, honoring his daughter and late wife while on the mound.
During the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, March 27, Vesia took the field with a dark pink glove, which included the name of his late daughter, Sterling Sol Vesiaengraved on the side. The glove also has his birthday written on the inside.
On the ring finger of the glove, Vesia placed the letter “K” in honor of his wife, Kaylaa tradition he continued since the two started dating.
Vesia pitched a scoreless inning in his season opener and looked fired up as he left the field at the end of the frame. Fans at Dodger Stadium recognized the heartfelt moment, giving Vesia a standing ovation as he headed back to the dugout. He waved to the crowd in approval of the gesture, then pointed to his wife in the house.
Before the game, Vesia received his World Series ring from last season, when the Dodgers won the championship against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Vesia sadly missed the team’s run to the World Series after announcing the death of her newborn daughter.
On October 23, just one day before the World Series began, the Dodgers announced on Instagram that Vesia was leaving the team to deal with a “deep family issue.”
Two weeks later, Vesia’s wife, Kayla, shared the sad news that the couple had lost their child.
“Sterling Sol Vesia🪽. Our little angel we love you forever and always with us,” Kayla wrote on Instagram on November 7. “Our beautiful daughter went to heaven on Sunday October 26th. There are no words to describe the pain we are going through but we hold her in our hearts and cherish every second we had.”
Friday’s game was Vesia’s first ride since the loss to the family.
In January, Vesia announced plans to have one of his gloves customized in honor of his late daughter, as well as continuing his tradition of writing the letter “K” on his ring finger to honor his wife.
“Ever since we started dating, he has been putting up [the letter] ‘K’ on her ring finger,” Kayla said in a January TikTok video. “She has ‘FUFB’ all the time on her glove and now, she’s going to start adding Sterling’s name. Sometimes he pulls inspo from different images of gloves that already exist and most of the time we mess around and see what we like.”
In a Thursday, March 26 post on Instagram – Opening Day of the MLB season – Vesia promised to make her daughter proud during the season.
“Same goals … different ideas … new motivations,” Vesia captioned photos of himself on the field at Dodger Stadium. “Thanks to everyone who stuck with me. Dodger Nation will bring the energy.”
He captioned the post, “I’ll make you proud of SSV ❤️.”
