Mag-Eh-cal! James Paxton's fan club goes nuts over no-hitter
Karin Larsen | CBC News | Posted: May 10, 2018 4:40 AM | Last Updated: August 2, 2018
They call themselves The Maple Grove and they are The Big Maple's most dedicated supporters, eh
James Paxton's no-hitter thrilled a lot of baseball fans but none more so than die-hard members of the Big Maple's fan club, known as The Maple Grove.
"It's incredible, historic," said Maple Grove co-founder Hillary Kirby. "As soon as he got to the eighth inning I called my entire family to make sure they turned the TV on. Even people who don't care about baseball were freaking out."
Tuesday night in Toronto, the Ladner, B.C. native became only the second Canadian and third Seattle Mariner in Major League Baseball history to throw a no-hitter.
'Everyone loses their mind'
I'm just so happy — for everyone, for Paxton," said Maple Grover Daniel Carroll. "There's a lot of fan drama around the Mariners… but when a supreme performance happens like that, all that tension goes away and everyone just loses their mind."
The Maple Grove formed last summer on a bit of a lark. Carroll, who is known for his signs that gently taunt the Toronto fans who swarm to Seattle when the Blue Jays are in town — showed up at a game with a sign that read, "At lease we can all agree on James Paxton."
The rest, as they say, is history and The Maple Grove is now a colourful and noisy fixture at Safeco Field.
Of course there's a maple tree
On days when Paxton starts, "Grovers" gather in the lower left field bleachers under a Mariners-supplied maple tree to chant "Eh" and wave signs.
One member has even started wearing a full length eagle costume to games, purchased specially to commemorate the bizarre moment earlier this season when a bald eagle landed on Paxton.
During weekday games, The Maple Grove can number as few as 15 or 20, although last year for a weekend game during Paxton's six-game winning streak, their ranks swelled to over 300.
Kirby says judging from the texts and tweets she's received since the Big Maple's magical night, The Maple Grove is set for big growth when Paxton next starts at home, tentatively on May 18 versus Detroit.
'Going to be insane'
"I think it's going to be insane," she said. "It's a Friday night which means higher attendance. Gauging from the number of people that are now paying attention to him and texting me…we're probably going to have to expand into another section."
"People want to sit with us and chant "Eh," said Carroll. "I always thought the power of sport is in community, and this community is just super fun."