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.”
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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.
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“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
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.”
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck (89) throws in the first as Sox take on the Tigers in at Fenway on May 31. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
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.
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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.
BOSTON (WHDH) – The maker of the online learning platform Canvas has reportedly reached a deal wit the hackers who took down the site last week to get their data back.
The company did not reveal what was given to the hackers in exchange for the return of more than 275 million users’ data, but said they confirmed the data was detroyed.
Canvas was down for several hours last week because of the cyberattack.
The hacking group said nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were impacted, including Harvard University.
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They said they accessed billions of private messages and personal information.
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Investigators identified Tyler Brown of Boston as the man who allegedly opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, leaving two victims with life-threatening injuries.
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said Brown fired 50 to 60 shots on the busy road shortly after 1 p.m. Monday.
Two male victims were hit in vehicles, Ryan said. They are in critical condition and fighting for their lives.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper and a civilian with a license to carry a firearm went toward the gunman and fired their weapons at him. Officers treated Brown at the scene, and he was brought to a Boston hospital, where he is in intensive care, according to the district attorney.
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This video shared with NBC10 Boston appears to show a man opening fire at cars on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday, May 11, 2026.
Authorities have, so far, shared limited information about the suspect.
“Mr. Brown is from Boston, and apparently was in the process of moving here. We understand that Mr. Brown was under the supervision of either the Massachusetts Probation Department or Department of Parole,” Ryan said.
She did not elaborate on why Brown may have been on probation or parole.
“We will address Mr. Brown’s criminal record, if any, at the arraignment,” she said.
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Ryan added that she did not know enough about Brown’s condition to say whether he would be arraigned in court or in a hospital bed. The timing was also not clear.
He will face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and firearms charges, and “a variety of other charges as we unfold what took place, exactly, and we have a chance to speak to the many, many people who were out there,” Ryan said.
An inbound stretch of Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road will be closed each night through August for tunnel repairs, officials announced.
Starting Monday, the closures will begin at 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m., state officials said.
Road closures begin at North Harvard Street in Allston and stretch along the Charles River Esplanade to Mugar Way in Boston, near the Hatch Memorial Shell, officials said.
Traffic will be detoured into Cambridge over the Anderson Bridge, along Memorial Drive, and then be routed into Boston over the Longfellow Bridge.
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The closures will allow ongoing repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel in the Back Bay.The work is the first phase of a two-stage project to extend the lifespan of the tunnel, which carries roughly 50,000 drivers to and from downtown Boston daily.
The outbound portion of the tunnel and accompanying roadways will not be affected.
State transportation officials said changes to the work schedule will be made when necessary to minimize impacts during major local events at TD Garden, Fenway Park, or during the FIFA World Cup and 250th anniversary celebrations scheduled for this summer.
Additional changes may be made without notice due to weather.
Transportation officials have not specified when the closures will end.
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Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
