Brian Maggio runs up to bat during practice this week. A big
smile spreads across his 8-year-old face. After hitting a round of
whiffle balls thrown by his coach, Brian walks into the batter
’s box to hit baseballs. He drops to the ground after a couple
high inside pitches just like he has seen his favorite Major League
hitters do. When he gets one down the middle, he knows what to do
with it and promptly strokes it into the outfield.
Brian Maggio runs up to bat during practice this week. A big smile spreads across his 8-year-old face. After hitting a round of whiffle balls thrown by his coach, Brian walks into the batter’s box to hit baseballs. He drops to the ground after a couple high inside pitches just like he has seen his favorite Major League hitters do. When he gets one down the middle, he knows what to do with it and promptly strokes it into the outfield.
No one expected the Reds of the Mustang Division to come this far in the playoffs, and no one expected Brian to get this far either. Despite his autism, Brian would be on the baseball field all the time if he could. After the Tuesday practice for the big playoff game ended, Brian remained on the field to throw the ball up in the air. He even requested an extra batting practice session. It wasn’t until his mother Marilyn encouraged him to leave that he reluctantly left the field.
Marilyn faithful drives her son over from Hollister, 30 miles away, to take her son to practice and games.
“He never even played ball before,” Marilyn said. “He learned how to play by watching the Giants. I had no idea he had learned that much. The first time out, he saw a fast pitch ball and he nailed it. I never thought he would be playing, but I have remained very optimistic.”
Brian rotates around in right and left field and hopes to eventually get his chance on the mound. There was a time this season when Brian struck out and went to the bench on the verge of tears. It was his rotation to sit on the bench and let someone else play the field. But he thought it was because he struck out, and then the tears came.
“He tends to magnify everything,” Marilyn said. “He is very dramatic and very genuine, and everyone loves him for it”
Brian has a good eye for the strike zone. He knows when a pitch is not there and when it is even if the umpires don’t always know it. A couple games into the season, Brian was hit by a pitch. Then he was git by a harder pitch during the next game. After that Brian was a little gun shy for the rest of the season and continued to draw walks. He finally was able to brake out a little in Sunday’s playoff game. He lined a hard-hit ball but right at the fielder, who threw him out.
Brian has earned the nick name of “king of slide” for his ability to slide perfect consistantly. He learned it from watching players like Barry Bonds, who is his favorite player, and Marquis Grissom, who he calls “Marky.” In one game, he slid into the catcher and knocked him over.
“He just lay there on the ground from a while.” Marilyn said. “I hear a voice saying ‘this is going to hurt’ as he got up.”
Looking at his energy and enthusiasm on the field, one couldn’t tell the difference between him and any other of the players on the field. But it has not always been as smooth of sailing for the Maggios.
Marilyn worked in the high tech section at IBM for 10 years, but changed her career to work as a special education legal advisor. She recalls many times when she would sit down with him in a store, hugging him to calm him down. She was originally not to sure about the suggestion Stanfor special education workers had of wanting him to learn sign language.
“I can relate real well to the video I saw on Hellen Keller,” Marilyn said. “But he has walked it every step of the way with me. The work has paid off.”
Brian’s older sister has formed a special sibling connection with her younger brother and has been able to help him learn. She is very protective of him and has worked with him to help him master some social interaction skills.
There are many false perceptions about autism, but many are not true.
“There is nothing disabling about his disability,” Marilyn said. “They take everything in, but don’t know when to filter out. So they shut down and begin to withdraw. You just have to help them learn how to learn. Baseball is something that really brings out best in him. He is learning a lot by example.”
Marilyn said she doesn’t plan on lowering the bar for her son.
“We’ve found that the autistic live up to expectations,” Marilyn said. “You treat them the same way and expect the same as you would anyone else. Life is going to throw you a curve ball, and this will be what it will be like later.”
He may not be the most athletic person on the field, but that doesn’t stop him from hitting 70 mile per hour fast balls at the batting cage. Brian also hopes to play football in a youth league, but his mom isn’t sure about that. Right now she just wants him to keep learning and improving in whatever he does.
“God willing he will play professional ball someday because he sure wants to,” Marilyn said. “We will do everything we can to give him that opportunity.
