Mother and daughter’s shared love of baseball is simply Giant

Sandra Pessner’s celebration of Mother’s Day got an early start as she and her only child, 28-year-old Kati, nestled into their seats at AT&T Park on Saturday to watch their San Francisco Giants battle the Colorado Rockies.

Kati flew in from her home in Las Vegas, as she does anytime she can when Mom calls to say she has tickets.

“She is so excited when I tell her I have game tickets,” said Sandra, 60, estimating they’ve been to 35 games together. “And when we go to the games, it’s the whole nine yards, decked out in our Giants gear. … And we always have to have our Dungeness crab sandwiches.”

Sandra was raised in a family of Giants and 49ers fans. So was Kati. But the mother-and-daughter game-going tradition arose from Sandra’s volunteer work with the Modesto Junior Giants youth baseball league.

The Giants Community Fund offers a summer reading program for all Junior Giants players, called Round the Bases. The achievement levels follow a baseball diamond, and after each base is completed, players earn Giants-branded awards.

Sandra, who teachers kindergarten and first grade at Aspire University Charter School in Modesto, created a color-coded scorecard system for each team’s players.

“There was no way of trying to track that before I came on board in 2008,” she said. “Because I created trifold boards … it was easy for the children to track their reading, and they became so motivated and successful that the Giants Community Fund in San Francisco had me come and talk with all the commissioners in about 90 different leagues in three states serving over 20,000 students.”

For her efforts, she said, she was presented with the Junior Giants’ version of the Willie Mac Award. The actual award is bestowed annually upon the most inspirational player on the team, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff and fans.

“My daughter was very, very excited about what I did, and we had a lot of great conversations about volunteering and such, and she became a fan because I loved what I did with Junior Giants so much,” Sandra said, adding that Kati also helps with Junior Giants whenever she can. “I was also buying lots of tickets and saying, ‘Join me.’

“I’ve been a single parent almost all her life. We have a lot of passions together, but going to Giants games, the whole experience of going to San Francisco, the experience of enjoying it together, is the best.”

Kati agreed: “It’s – words can barely describe it – amazing. It’s something she and her mom and her brother used to do, so now it’s a passed-on tradition. That it’s something she’s able to do with me gives it a special place in my heart, near and dear,” she said.

Mom and daughter have their own favorite players and moments. The day that comes to mind for Kati was an August 2014 Dog Days of Summer event at the ballpark, when they took their dog, Lexi, to a game. “It was so much fun,” she said. “There’s a huge costume contest and parade, and we all wore matching T-shirts. She (Lexi) got a hot dog, ice cream and french fries.”

For Sandra, the standout memory is volunteering with Kati at the Giants Community Fund’s 2010 Play Ball Lunch, at which young fans got to meet the big-leaguers. “Seeing the excitement in that room. … I’ve been to World Series playoff games, but I think the excitement in that room at that time was the most exciting experience I’ve had with Kati.”

As for favorite players, Sandra said Kati has a handful she calls “hot” – among them Buster Posey and Ángel Pagán. “And I really appreciate the retired players and, of course, Bruce Bochy, the manager. You have to be outstanding to make it to three World Series and win three World Series,” Sandra said.

“My favorite player is Willie McCovey. ... He is such an outstanding player and such a role model for not only Junior Giants but for all lovers of baseball.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Mother and daughter’s shared love of baseball is simply Giant."