Before he was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident in April 2023, Jackson Yelle and his father Scott aspired to watch a game together at all 30 MLB ballparks. They made it to 12 at the time of his passing, and this year Scott resolved to finish what they started.

Eighteen parks and less than three months later, that dream has officially come true.

Last Sunday, Scott Yelle completed his whirlwind ballpark tour in Jackson’s honor, catching the Detroit Tigers’ 10-2 home win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Comerica Park. The last stop came after he’d also seen games in St. Louis and Kansas City the days prior, and in Detroit he was joined by his wife, daughter and several others for the final game.

“It was pretty special,” Yelle said by phone earlier this week. “It was a beautiful day, good to have family and friends around, and the Tigers, as everyone has, continued to make us feel like royalty and treated us really special.”

MLB notes: Cape Cod father determined to finish ballpark journey he and late son started together

A North Eastham resident and a graduate of Nauset Regional High School, Jackson Yelle was a talented and well-regarded ballplayer who went on to play for the club team at Elon University. A 21-year-old junior, Jackson was with his team in Myrtle Beach, S.C., at the time of his accident, and in the weeks that followed his family, friends and college teammates raised money to start what eventually became the Jackson Yelle Family Foundation, a charitable organization they hoped could help support meaningful causes in his memory.

Besides establishing memorial scholarships and supporting Jackson’s former baseball programs, the Yelle family also decided to support MLB’s Nike RBI Program, which aims to provide baseball opportunities to kids in inner city communities. At every stop along the tour Yelle donated $1,000 to that club’s local program, presenting the team with a big check prior to the game.

It wasn’t long before word started getting out.

Shortly after his tour began Yelle’s story started getting picked up by local and national outlets. He became a frequent guest on MLB Network and after a while fans began recognizing him at the ballpark, often thanks to his Elon baseball hat he wore to every game.

“They’ll say, ‘Hey are you that guy?’ and start a conversation and you get to share the story and they typically want to learn more and offer their condolences and support and inspiration,” Yelle said. “It’s honestly pretty cool. Part of the sheer benefit and joy of the trip is meeting all these new people and it’s part of the therapy for sure.”

Along the way Yelle got to meet numerous baseball legends, including Mike Trout in Anaheim, Freddie Freeman in Los Angeles and Ichiro Suzuki in Seattle.

“There’s definitely some great memories from the trip that I’ll cherish for a long time,” he said.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The Tigers welcomed Scott Yelle and his family to ballpark No. 30, finishing off the #HonoringJackson Tour.

The Jackson Yelle Family Foundation presented a $1k check for the Detroit Tigers Foundation #NIKERBI athletes‼️ 🙌 pic.twitter.com/9PT26aunV1

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— MLBRBI (@MLBRBI) June 9, 2024

Beyond making it to all 18 ballparks left on his list, Yelle also hoped to raise money to support the foundation’s efforts. As of this writing the family has raised approximately $28,000, exceeding their initial goal of $25,000, and if they can top $30,000 they hope to make 12 additional $1,000 donations to the Nike RBI Programs affiliated with the MLB clubs Jackson got to visit prior to his accident.

Yelle has also been invited to attend the Nike RBI World Series in Vero Beach, Fla., in August, and once the dust settles he and the family hope to finalize a number of other initiatives in Jackson’s honor.

In the meantime, Yelle is looking forward to what he expects will be a bittersweet but meaningful Father’s Day. The pain of losing Jackson will never fully heal, but this year there will also be a sense of pride that they were able to see his journey through to the end.

“It’s a bit surreal. It’s finally starting to sink in that we accomplished it,” Yelle said. “It’s crazy. Nine months ago it was just an idea, it wasn’t even really formulated, so to be completed, it’s obviously great. I think Jackson would be proud and thrilled at our accomplishment and getting the job done.”

Anyone interested in supporting the Jackson Yelle Family Foundation can do so by donating at https://jacksonyelle.com/.

Special Father’s Day

This season hasn’t gone the way Garrett Whitlock hoped. The right-hander got off to an outstanding start before missing several weeks due to an oblique injury, and now he’ll sit the rest of the season after undergoing elbow surgery following what was meant to be his last rehab start.

That’s not ideal, but with his first child due to arrive in about a month, Whitlock still has something to look forward to.

“It’s the silver lining for sure knowing I’m going to be there for his birth and I’m going to be around every day, I’m not going to miss any of those moments, that’s huge,” Whitlock said this week. “It’s something I’m really looking forward to in that aspect, obviously it’s not a best case scenario but it’s pretty darn good all things considering.”

Whitlock and his wife Jordan are expecting a baby boy in early July, during a stretch when the Red Sox are scheduled to be in the midst of a week-long, two-city road trip. Many ballplayers who have children during the season face the stressful prospect of rushing home at a moment’s call from some far-flung location to make it back in time when the baby comes, so the fact that Whitlock can plan on avoiding that is a blessing he doesn’t take for granted.

Beyond that, Whitlock will also have more opportunities to spend time with his growing family once his son arrives. In between his daily rehab work and time spent amongst his teammates, one of his top priorities now will be preparing for the big day.

“Getting excited for sure,” Whitlock said. “Just looking forward to it and getting the home as ready as we can and looking forward to welcoming them in here and seeing what it’s going to be like.”

Whitlock and his family plan to spend the rest of the season in Boston while he rehabs, so Jordan and the baby will never be far away, but that isn’t a luxury all ballplayers get to enjoy. Life in the big leagues often requires significant personal sacrifice, but that also makes the time spent together even more special.

Whitlock got a close look at that side of fatherhood, plus a little preview of what he can expect, when he hosted Connor Wong’s family — including his one-year-old Chandler — for a week in Fort Myers during spring training.

“It was good to lean on him and watch how he did everything,” Whitlock said.

“It was great to see them, at that point (Chandler) was walking so he was walking around the spring training agility field,” Wong said. “It wasn’t anything crazy really, we’re thankful Garrett let us stay with him and let my family come into town.”

As far as his recovery from elbow surgery, Whitlock still has a long way to go but is making good progress. The next milestone will be getting out of his heavy brace, which has his right arm immobilized and should come off in about five weeks. After that, the hope is still that Whitlock will be able to return to the mound sometime early next season.

“So far so good,” Whitlock said.

Until then, Whitlock hopes to enjoy all the curveballs fatherhood throws his way.

Devers, Houck on All-Star track

Voting is underway for the MLB All-Star Game, and at this stage of the season the Red Sox have a handful of standouts who have emerged as strong contenders to make the American League roster.

Chief among them is Rafael Devers, who should go toe-to-toe with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez for the starting third base spot. As of this writing Devers leads all qualifying AL third basemen with a .937 OPS and 30 walks, and he also ranks near the top of the leaderboards with 13 home runs, 32 RBI, 13 doubles and even three triples.

Though fans won’t vote on the pitchers, Tanner Houck has clearly put himself in position to earn a spot on the staff, possibly even as the AL’s starter. Houck boasts an 2.08 ERA, ranks second in the AL with 91 innings pitched and has held batters to an exceptional 0.945 walks and hits per innings pitched.

While he probably won’t have a chance to start over Aaron Judge, Juan Soto or Kyle Tucker, Jarren Duran has still built a strong case for himself as a reserve outfielder. Duran has played in every game this season and ranks tied for third among AL outfielders behind Judge and Soto with 3.6 wins above replacement. He also leads the AL with 10 triples, has 15 stolen bases and 20 doubles, and according to Statcast, ranks as both the best baserunner in MLB and as an elite fielder.

Phase 1 of MLB’s All-Star fan vote will run through June 27, at which point the top two vote-getters at each position (top six for outfielders) will advance as finalists to Phase 2, which will run from June 30 to July 3 and determine the game’s starters. Fans can vote at https://www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot.

Keegan, Seymour soar

Two locals are making some noise with the Tampa Bay Rays’ Double-A affiliate.

Methuen’s Dom Keegan, a former Central Catholic star, came into Friday batting .285 with five home runs, 31 RBI and an .814 OPS for the Montgomery Biscuits. Meanwhile, Ian Seymour, a former Saint John’s (Shrewsbury) standout from Westborough, came into the weekend with a 5-2 record, a 2.16 ERA and 77 strikeouts over his first 66.2 innings.

Keegan and Seymour rank as the Rays’ No. 5 and 18 prospects, respectively, according to MLB Pipeline.

Some other notable local performers: Rowley’s Thomas White, a former Phillips Andover great now in the Miami Marlins system, was recently promoted to High-A. In his first two starts with the Beloit Sky Carp he’s struck out 14 batters over 8.1 innings while posting a 2.16 ERA. … Former Northeastern University aces Cam Schlittler and Sebastian Keane are both off to strong starts with the Yankees’ High-A affiliate. Schlittler, a former Walpole star, has a 2.15 ERA through his first 10 starts, and Keane, of North Andover, has a 4.85 ERA through his first 11 starts.

The warmer weather has drawn the crowds back to the city’s open-air drug market at Mass and Cass, which one city councilor says is alarming the community despite the mayor’s insistence that the area is much safer since last year’s tent crackdown.

City Councilor Ed Flynn said roughly 70–80 people have been gathering and openly using and selling drugs at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard on a daily basis for at least the past month.

Flynn said he visited the area on Thursday and observed an “organized system of drug dealers on Melnea Cass” in Roxbury. He described the situation as a danger to people in the area, saying that he went on to speak with residents in South Boston, which is part of his district, who are “very concerned about the significant escalation of drug dealing and drug use in the neighborhoods.”

“I talked to several Boston police officials today and expressed my concern about the area and requested enhanced police presence in the impacted neighborhoods and to arrest drug dealers,” Flynn told the Herald Thursday. “It’s a significant issue impacting the quality of life of residents.”

The criminal activity has also spilled over into other areas, Flynn said, with more people gathering throughout neighborhoods in Roxbury and the South End, Andrew Square in South Boston, and at the South Bay mall in Dorchester.

The South Bay mall drew attention last summer for juvenile mobs committing violent crime, leading then-Councilor Frank Baker to partly blame the example set for youth by the Mass and Cass inhabitants who go through the stores there to “rob the place blind and shoot up drugs in the sidewalks,” when the matter came before the City Council for discussion last September.

Flynn said that not only are businesses at the South Bay mall concerned about the crowds returning at and around Mass and Cass, but those located in the Newmarket business district are as well.

He said people are drawn to the Mass and Cass area because public drug use and dealing has long been “tolerated” there by the city, but emphasized that should not be the case, and is calling for city officials to “revisit and redouble our efforts” that began with last fall’s crackdown on tent encampments and crime.

“I don’t believe we should allow people to use drugs openly on the streets of Boston,” Flynn said. “I believe it’s a public health crisis.”

Mayor Michelle Wu implemented a three-pronged plan to address crime and homelessness in the area last fall, following City Council approval of an anti-encampment ordinance that empowered police to remove the tents that officials said were shielding crime, sex trafficking and weapons.

On a Wednesday appearance on a “Java with Jimmy” podcast, Wu was asked about the uptick in gathering that’s been occurring at Mass and Cass, and how the city planned to address it.

The mayor spoke to the importance of the ordinance, saying that not having the tents there permanently has put the city in a “different and better, safer position than we were a year ago this time.” Last summer, more than 200 people a day were flocking to the area.

The Herald requested an interview with the mayor on Thursday afternoon, but her office declined to make Wu available nor provide a statement, saying in a Friday evening email that it deferred to her comments on “Java with Jimmy.”

Wu’s office did provide statistics shedding more light on her remarks around enhanced safety in the Mass and Cass zone.

The year-over-year data compared Jan. 1 to April 8 of 2023 to the same time period in 2024, showing that robberies were down 40%, aggravated assault was down 14%, residential burglary was down 78%, motor vehicle theft was down 38%, total crime was down 22%, and violent crimes overall were “significantly down.”

What remains to be seen, however, is data capturing the warmer months that have already resulted in larger crowds in the area.

On her podcast appearance, Wu spoke to the city’s efforts to connect longtime inhabitants of Mass and Cass with shelter, housing, drug treatment and services.

She also mentioned the city’s long-term goal of rebuilding a bridge out to a future addiction-recovery campus on Long Island, which has faced staunch opposition from the mayor on the other side of that bridge, Quincy’s Thomas Koch.

While the mayor says the situation at Mass and Cass has improved, she said this year has brought new challenges, particularly the influx of migrants straining the city’s adult shelter system.

City Councilor Henry Santana, who chairs the body’s Public Safety and Criminal Justice committee, said the new challenges there will require new solutions.

“This has always been an issue of intersecting and evolving crises — housing, opioid addiction and mental health — and now, the increasing influx of migrants,” Santana said in a Thursday statement.

“Many of the issues of a year ago have improved with actions taken by the city,” he said, “and the people and some of the issues that we’re seeing today are different, and require new solutions in partnership with the state, particularly to address the strains on the state shelter system and resources for mental health.”