6-year-old’s card is a hit

Elkton Little Leaguer makes a special connection with O’s Adam Jones

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Emma Short’s favorite baseball player ever is Adam Jones, because he blows bubbles in the outfield and he’s an All-Star and a role model and, yeah, they shared a cool high-five two years ago. But her second-favorite baseball player ever, for now anyway, might be the one she saw last Sunday instead of Jones. Because of that Oriole, left-hander Richard Bleier, brought her unimaginably closer to her favorite Oriole.

Sunday was Youth Baseball Day at Camden Yards, and Emma, 6, headed down from Elkton with her parents to watch the Orioles play the Toronto Blue Jays. And to see Jones again. In 2015, she met the center fielder on the ballpark’s dugout steps. A shot of their embrace, Jones’ hands slapping hers, was shared on the Orioles’ Facebook page.

Last year’s Youth Baseball Day was canceled, so Emma was eager Sunday. She was there with her North East Little League team, and her mother, Amy, had the idea to bring Emma’s novelty playing card to the game. (Bats: right. Throws: right. Height: 4 feet. Weight: 42 pounds.) Emma wanted to gift it to the ballplayer on her card she had called her favorite.

Only, when her team walked by the Orioles before the game, Jones wasn’t there. It was Bleier who was up on the dugout steps. Emma handed him her card. “Hey, could you give this to Adam?” her father, Devin, recalled her asking. Bleier smiled and laughed and said, “Sure,” and he put the card in his pocket.

Emma’s father was realistic: “We were like: ‘OK, well, maybe he’ll get it. Maybe he won’t.’ ” Besides, they would be out at another game before long. The Shorts were a baseball family, even if their loyalties were split.

Devin, 37, has lived in Maryland his whole life, but his mother’s family is from New York. He grew up in the 1980s, and his favorite player was Don Mattingly, so he felt the pull of pinstripes.

His wife, 36, revered another icon. Amy’s grandfather was the president of a Cal Ripken Jr. fan club in the 1980s, Devin said, and she met Ripken a handful of times as a kid. Her allegiances were secured.

“Our house is pretty interesting,” he joked, “especially when the Orioles and Yankees play.”

Knowing what it meant to have a baseball crush as a kid, Devin found his seat after the Orioles’ pregame parade of youth baseball teams Sunday and took out his phone. He opened the Twitter app and began to type a message. It was for Jones.

“My daughter Emma dropped off her baseball card for you today at the little league parade. We’re cheering you on! Go O’s!” Devin tweeted.

The Orioles made it tough for the announced 36,632 to cheer anything that afternoon. They lost, 3-1, wasting a game-high three hits from Jones, and the Shorts made the hour-long drive back home.

As night started to fall, the Shorts were out in their yard, playing with Emma and their young son, Kellen. Devin went inside to check his phone, which was charging. He had a Twitter notification, about an hour or two old. He couldn’t believe what it said. Neither could Emma.

“He sent you a message?!?!” Devin recalled her asking incredulously. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ She was pretty impressed.” Apparently, so was Jones.

“Thanks so much for that precious card. It’s in my locker,” Jones tweeted.

“I think that ultimately speaks to his character and what kind of person he is,” said Devin, who, indulging his own fandom, took a screenshot not only of the Twitter conversation but also of the lock-screen notification that Jones had tweeted at him. “I know that celebrities like this, whether it’s athletes or actors and musicians, get berated by people on social media in good and bad ways. But to see someone actually take the time out to respond like that was pretty amazing.”

What this means for the future of Emma and Jones’ relationship, her father cannot say. She is young enough to know only of Jones’ on-field exploits — of his encounters with racism earlier this month in Boston, Devin said: “It’s certainly something that at some point in time will become a relevant topic to discuss with her, but, yeah, she’s in kindergarten.” She is also mature enough to be rightly “really psyched” about their card-carrying connections.

“I’m sure he will be her favorite player forever, without a doubt,” Devin said.