Some Background on James Taylor, Jr.

Photo of James in his Sox jersey courtesy of the Taylor Family

Tru has been having conversations with James Taylor’s sister Laurie. She was the one who got this ball rolling with the message she left on the Red Sox Fan Forum. A lot of folks wanted to know how a guy from Salt Lake City became such a passionate and loyal Red Sox fan. Laurie was kind enough to share James’ story with us and I wanted to share it with all of you.

(Please click on any of the links in the above paragraph to get the background on this story if you aren’t familiar with it.)

James fascination with the Red Sox began when he was about 12 or 13 years old. After little league tryouts, James was chosen as a player on the Red Sox team. He began to do his research, as just like every young boy he wanted to know more about the players he was representing on his little league team. He started following the team, watching the games, watching the players, finding enjoyment in seeing players added, and heartache in seeing some of the players traded. There was always the taunt of the Red Sox getting so close only to have devastating losses that would prevent them from getting to the World Series. True to his team though, through the good times and bad he remained a fan.

When his sons were born, the fascination with the Red Sox grew and dreams of little league games and of course one day signing with the MLB Red Sox went through his head. What a devastating blow when his son Mason got drafted onto the Yankees little league team his first year of play. James solved that problem the next year by choosing to be the manager, and therefore have control over the team they would represent. They were none other than the Red Sox.

His passion for his team win or lose was passed down to his sons. They would watch games all through the season, and when James was working odd hours in the ER, games were recorded and watched at a later time together. There was rarely any game they missed or did not watch together. They would read books, like ‘ 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox’ and collect baseball cards of the whole team. For Christmas last year, James’s sons presented him with a Boston Red Sox watch.

James had the opportunity to go to Boston with the Army Reserves about 3 years ago, the first thing on his list was to go to Fenway to see a game. When he got back home, he excitedly told his sons all about the experience of the Red Sox Nation, and promised them he would get them to a game and how much fun they would have eating hot dogs, chatting with fans, singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ and just being together.

His sons are carrying on the tradition of the love for the Red Sox, they know more about the Red Sox then most adults, and follow each game and each player closely. The Red Sox have provided James and his sons a way to still have a really strong connection, there are not many things in this world that are able to do that.

Click here to find out how you can help us make James’ dream for his sons a reality!