Cincinnati Reds’ Heroic Batboy With Down Syndrome, Ted Kremer, Gets His Own Baseball Card

Ted Kremer is a hero to everyone in Cincinnati who knows about him. Kremer is the young man with Down Syndrome who has brought joy and inspiration to players and fans of the Cincinnati Reds with his enthusiasm as the team batboy.

When his mother gave birth to Teddy, she was told the next day by the doctor that her son would likely never smile, probably wouldn’t talk, might not walk, and would never have more than a 40 IQ. That kind of prediction often qualifies unborn children with Down Syndrome for abortion — but Teddy’s mom had other plans, and so did he.

One Reds player put Teddy’s positive effect on the team this way:

“People are blessed in their own way,” Brandon Phillips said. “Teddy came in here and blessed us with his energy and his presence that day: Enjoy life, be yourself, go out and play hard. Give it all you got. That’s Teddy. He’s a reminder to us all.”

Now, Kremer has his own baseball card, something every young boy who loves baseball dreams of and cementing his status and impact on the game.

As the Cincinnati Enquirer reports:

First he was recognized in Washington, then on ESPN and now Ted Kremer has his own Topps baseball card.

Kremer is featured in the 2013 Topps Update baseball set released last week. The Update set features players who switched teams, rookies, memorable moments and All-Stars. There are also variant cards, one of which features Kremer.

The regular card No. US268 features Reds first baseman Joey Votto at the 2013 All-Star Game at New York’s Citi Field. There’s two variations, one that has a picture of Votto and teammates Aroldis Chapman and Brandon Phillips at the All-Star Game, and another with former manager Dusty Baker and Kremer.

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Kremer, a 30-year-old man from White Oak with Down syndrome, has become a bit of a national sensation after his story first appeared in the Enquirer in September last year and received over 2 million hits on Cincinnati.com, and then was the subject of an E:60 profile on ESPN last month and the next day closed out the last few minutes of ABC-TV’s World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer. Kremer went to work for the Reds this past summer at Great American Ball Park.

Both of Ted’s parents lauded the Reds organization for “embracing the idea” of a Ted card — and allowing their son to be shown in a Reds uniform, something that is typically allowed only for players, manager and coaches — when approached by Topps, who came up with the idea of a Ted card all on their own.

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