Catch -- and pass -- of slam ball a baseball bonding moment for Guards fans

CLEVELAND -- As Lane Thomas' punctuating grand slam was sailing into the left-field bleachers on Saturday afternoon, Guardians fan Matt Coleman saw it all the way through and into the glove that he borrowed from his son earlier in the day.

And with zero hesitation, the Progressive Field season-ticket holder immediately handed the keepsake to the fellow superfan to his right.

A full 30 minutes after that moment, Patrick Steyer -- Coleman’s second cousin -- was still brimming with joy as he showed off the sparkling souvenir.

“I’m so happy,” Steyer said while watching Cleveland advance past Detroit with a 7-3 win in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. “So amazing. Go Guardians!”

Steyer, 37, is less than two years removed from being diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer from which he’s since reached remission. But it has limited his mobility. He will occasionally use a walk-assisting device, but with elevated foot traffic due to a sellout crowd of 34,105 for Game 5, he was in a wheelchair.

Steyer hadn’t attended a Guards game since before the pandemic, making Saturday’s special moment that much sweeter.

“He’s the most positive person I’ve ever met,” Coleman said of Steyer. “He’s fought through the challenges and downs, and when he beat leukemia this past year, I told him that once he got through it and was able to be well enough to go to a game, we were going to get up here.

“Today is all about him and his positivity. There’s so much negativity in the world, and I couldn’t think of a more positive person to bring today.”

Steyer was diagnosed in 2022 when his mother, Jan, noticed that he was showing extended fatigue and experiencing chest pains. It wasn’t until after she took Steyer to the hospital that doctors discovered leukemia. He’s been in remission and has one more chemotherapy session at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, slated for a two-week visit in early November.

Steyer, good-naturedly, jokes that the “Guards need to take care of business before then.”

This story is beyond the cousins, though. Their seats on Saturday -- in the first row and directly next to the tunnel leading to the concourse -- actually belong to Marvin and Donna Cooper, who switched to better facilitate the day for Steyer in his wheelchair.

Donna described the season-ticket-holding contingent in Section 182 at Progressive Field as a family.

“They’re just great people,” Donna said of Coleman and Steyer. “Their whole family loves baseball history, and they come so far to see these games and we love sharing seats so close with them.”

Indeed, Coleman and Steyer hail from Tiffin, Ohio -- 90 miles west of downtown Cleveland and a drive of 90 minutes each way. With a population just over 17,000, Tiffin is a small enough community where most know each other.

“Patrick Steyer is like a legend in Seneca County,” Coleman said.

Steyer, who recently began living on his own, is the youngest of nine children to Jan, who is in her 80s but still active, and the late Leon, who was the first cousin of Coleman’s father, LeRoy. Both Coleman’s and Steyer’s fathers passed away recently, bringing their bond even closer since.

“He’s the best pal ever,” Steyer said of Coleman.

Jan, speaking to MLB.com by phone, said that she was watching the game back home in Tiffin. Her daughter shouted when she noticed Coleman on TV, at which point her eyes immediately spotted Steyer, hoisting his hands in jubilation.

“It was very special,” Jan said. “He’s been through a lot.”

Though Saturday was the first game that Steyer and Coleman had attended together in at least five years, the home-run catch was remarkably not the first for the family in a postseason game.

Coleman was in the right place at the right time for Jason Kipnis’ solo shot in Game 6 of the 2016 World Series vs. the Cubs, which was hit in nearly the identical spot as Thomas’ on Saturday.

Coleman was at that game with his father, LeRoy, though he didn’t bring his glove that night like he did on Saturday. That’s because the leather he snagged Thomas’ ball with actually belongs to his son, Blake, from whom he borrowed it -- perhaps with the instincts that he’d need it.

Blake was only in fourth grade during the ‘16 Fall Classic, but he now plays for his dad at Calvert High School, along with his brother, Tucker, who is a freshman, and where Coleman is a baseball coach.

At 45 years old, Coleman jokes that he’s not as limber as the last time he corralled a playoff homer -- and that he hopes it’s not his last.

Coleman purchased the Guardians’ entire playoff strip of tickets to home games, and with Cleveland returning for the AL Championship Series next week, from Thursday through Saturday, he and Steyer will likely be back.

“I’m hopeful,” Coleman said. “Patrick is clearly a good luck charm.”