Harlo and Mavis Handevidt were supporters of athletic teams in Jackson throughout their lives. But baseball probably always held a little extra special place in their hearts.
Now, thanks to a donation from their family after they passed away just days apart last fall, the Jackson Bulls will wear special gray alternate jerseys occasionally.
The Bulls unveiled their new jerseys on Sunday during an 8-3 win at Lakefield.
"Harlo and Mavis were pretty special people," said Bulls manager Scott Bahr. "That whole family has been a special family to me and also to the Jackson baseball community including Legion baseball and the Bulls. Chris Handevidt played for me back in the 1980s and then you've got Kip Wachal, Brig Wachal and Grady played a little too and now you have Payton playing, so it's a really cool thing.
"The family came to me a while ago and said they'd like to make a donation. I wanted to do something special with the money and not have it go into the general fund for baseballs or umpires, so we came up with this idea to have an alternate jersey. We didn't know they were going to come out this nice.
"We thought it was just a gray T-shirt type thing that we would just wear every now and then with their name on it. The guys at Rambow that helped me out came up with the idea. We got one for Jeff Handevidt, one for Patti Wachal and one for Chris Handevidt so it was pretty special to see them and take some pictures with them afterward. It's a special, small way that we're always going to remember them. I know we have a sign at our home ballpark but they did a lot for us and they were always there and we appreciate everything that they did and we wanted to make sure to give them a real good thank you."
Harlo and Mavis's grandson Payton has followed his dad's (Chris) footsteps and is in his second season playing with the Bulls.
"Payton is an all-around good athlete," Bahr commented. He's a good kid. Comes from a great family. He came up last year and just played a little bit because we were in a spot where we needed an extra outfielder and he took that over and has played a really good outfield for us this year and now recently he's been swinging it well."
In fact, Payton was really swinging it well on Sunday.
He started his day with the Jackson Legion team for a 9 a.m. game in Springfield in the sub-district tournament. That game came after playing late into the night Saturday in an epic game that would turn out to be a 3-1 loss to Springfield in a game that saw a combined 28 strikeouts.
"That was probably the most fun ballgame I've ever been a part of even though we didn't come out on top," Payton said. "It was just really fun and just a great game all around."
On Sunday morning in a 6-5 win over Wabasso that earned Post 130 the number two seed from the sub-district for the upcoming district tournament, Payton had three hits, walked and was hit by a pitch.
Then in the amateur game that afternoon in Lakefield, Payton had base hits in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
That actually would put his manager in a predicament spot when he came to bat for the fourth time in the game in the seventh inning.
"He just hit missiles for base hits in his first three at bats," Bahr explained. "He kinda put me in a tough spot. He came up in an obvious bunting situation with runners on first and second and nobody out in a pretty competitive game. He's the number nine hitter so we're getting ready to spin the order but I can't bunt with a guy who's three-for-three so what does he do? He hits it back to the pitcher. So I had to give him a little bit of a hard time on that, but he's been playing really well and we're excited to have him."
How did Payton explain his success in the amateur game?
"It was something a little special," he said. "It must have been the luck of the jersey or something."
Chris was a little teary-eyed a few times during the day on Sunday.
"Dad was the Legion rep ever since I was little," he recalled. "I remember being the Bat Boy and he would be the rep for Legion ball and then I started playing for the Bulls with Kip, his grandson. Dad played ball for a lot of years. Not necessarily baseball but he played a lot of fastpitch growing up and had an affinity for the game. It's fun to see things continue on with Payton playing with the Bulls now. It was really nice of Scott to put this tribute together with these gray jerseys for the Bulls."
And with Payton in a Bulls' uniform, Chris finds himself thinking occasionally about his time wearing the Navy and Orange.
"There are so many times I catch myself watching a Bulls game or any other baseball game it like 'man if I could still play I would do it in a heartbeat,' Chris said. "But, the mind is willing, but the body's not able. I miss the sport, but I can live a little vicariously through Payton playing and it's fun to watch him and these Bulls guys play and know how much Payton respects Scott and the history that the Bulls have and how proud he is to play with these guys."
Chris recognizes that it takes a lot of people to make the program work.
"Scott has been doing this for a lot of years now," Chris said. "He learned and followed under Tyrone (Wacker). I played ball with Scott growing up. He was a year younger than me so were grew up under the same coaching and the same philosophies so I'm just happy to see all the success he's had with the Bulls. It's just great that my son gets to be a little part of that and go through all the good things I went through when I was playing for the Bulls and have fun doing it."