Friday, August 15

MILWAUKEE -- Jacob Misiorowski’s eyes still well with tears when he talks about the way his father, Tom, has bravely battled the effects of Parkinson’s disease since Jacob was young. Tom Misiorowski has had a pacemaker installed along with neurological devices in his head. They have helped, but he had to retire at a young age from his job as an electrician, a job he loved and was good at, Jacob says. That’s only one of the things this “terrible disease” has taken away. 

But the son is determined to find silver linings wherever they emerge -- especially now that he has the platform that comes with being one of the most exciting rookies in baseball and arguably the Brewers’ best pitching prospect ever. 

“I mean, I think it made him more available to me growing up,” Misiorowski said. “He kind of retired from his work and stuck around with me. It was awesome to have him around, but it definitely affected him physically. It’s not an easy disease. It’s difficult, and it changes people in various ways.”

As difficult as it is to talk about, Misiorowski is intent on using his voice for Parkinson’s awareness, which is why he agreed to partner with the Wisconsin Parkinson Association to help with fundraising and outreach.

It starts with small steps, like when Misiorowski surprised his dad by taking the mound for his hyped matchup against Pirates ace Paul Skenes on June 25 wearing cleats with Tom’s initials and a tulip, the universal symbol of Parkinson’s. Misiorowski could be wearing those cleats again as early as Friday night in Cincinnati for the start of MLB’s Players Weekend, though the Brewers were not ready as of Thursday to confirm whether he was ready to return from a stint on the injured list for a bruised shin.

The tulip has become Miz’s signature symbol. When the Brewers handed out T-shirts with his likeness as part of a promotion this month, there was a tulip on the shoulder.

“My dad is more than thrilled that I’m supporting this,” he said. “He’s been dealing with this for a lot of his life, so it’s good to support it in any way I can.” 

Where the partnership with the independent Wisconsin Parkinson Association goes from here is a work in progress, but Misiorowski is less focused on the details and more on the big picture of doing something to raise awareness for the estimated 1.1 million Americans living with Parkinson’s in the U.S., and especially for the 20,000 in Wisconsin. 

“How we learned about his story initially was the tulip on the cleats,” said Kelly Cieslak, the WPA’s executive director. “We said, ‘Hey, let’s reach out. He’s on the hometown team. How do we partner?’ We knew it was kind of a long shot because people are probably banging down the door to get to this guy.” 

You can imagine the celebration when Misiorowski said yes. Finding those connections is especially important to the WPA, which is not affiliated with any national Parkinson’s charities and relies on local donors to support their statewide mission of providing services and advice to families affected by the disease.

The Wisconsin Parkinson Association's Mindful Movement class. Photo credit: WPA

Like Misiorowski, this effort is personal to Cieslak, whose grandmother has Parkinson’s disease. Based in Brookfield, Wis., not far from American Family Field, the WPA has a budget of about $1 million and a staff of two full-time employees and three part-time staffers who cover all 72 counties in Wisconsin. 

“I don’t want to speak for Jacob, but I take calls personally and what I hear is, ‘I want to help. I don’t even know where to start. I don’t know what to do,’” Cieslak said. “Sometimes people don’t want to ask for help. Sometimes people don’t want to admit something is wrong. So it’s all different things that happen, right?

“Where WPA comes in, we can sometimes be that third party to talk with them, make sure they are connected with the right medical professional. It’s almost like that intake call, gauging where people are at with their situation and meeting them where they are.” 

Depending on the circumstances, the WPA can connect families to support groups or exercise classes tailored to Parkinson’s care, or help provide in-home services or mental health resources. WPA has hosted adaptive rock climbing events and boxing, which have shown great promise in slowing the progression of disease. The organization also distributes walking poles to keep people moving.

“Movement is one of the only things to slow the progression of Parkinson’s and it’s so important,” Cieslak said.

The WPA hosts rock climbing events tailored to Parkinson's care. Photo credit: WPA

Fans who are interested in supporting the association on Misiorowski’s behalf can visit wiparkinson.org for information.

Just as important for the loved ones of those affected: awareness. That’s where Misiorowski’s involvement is so helpful. Cieslak is already brainstorming ideas for Parkinson’s Awareness Month next April.

It’s the least he can do, Misiorowski said, to support his dad.

“It’s been a positive road so far,” Jacob said. “But you know, it’s also a slippery road and it changes really quick. It’s one of those things that you can’t just fall down the road of the ‘bad.’ It’s already bad enough, let’s make it better.”

I absolutely loved this story from Knoxville’s WATE-TV’s Sam Rothman about Brewers first-round Draft pick Andrew Fischer, who hit a home run before stepping into the batter’s box for the first time as a professional on Thursday. 

Rothman reported the story of 10-year-old Tucker Rose, a baseball fan from North Carolina who has a habit of writing a letter to every first-round Draft pick. Numerous players have written back, but none with the care that Fischer (the Brewers' No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline) put into his three-page, handwritten, highlighted response. 

Among the highlighted words of advice: 

“Be a great teammate in life and on the field.”

“Be the same guy every day.”

“Be honest.”

“Be respectful to everyone, no one is bigger than the program.”

And, underlined at the end: “Kill it in the classroom!”

“It was cool how much he wrote,” Tucker told the TV station. “It was also really cool that he highlighted stuff and took the time to do that. I really liked that he didn’t talk about how good of a player he is. He talked about his life and how he is.” More >>

• The Brewers’ 12-game winning streak is not magic and it’s not luck. It’s fun, fundamental baseball. But longtime fan Frank Vitucci likes to believe that Bob Uecker is looking down and enjoying this. More >>

• Not even Paul Skenes could stand in the way of the Brewers’ streak. More >>

• Neither could historic flooding in the Milwaukee area over the weekend, nor a 5-0 deficit against the Mets in Sunday’s series finale. After Isaac Collins hit his first career walk-off home run for win No. 9, he said it felt like “magic in the air.” More >>

• See where Collins and Misiorowski rank in our latest MLB.com Rookie of the Year Award poll. More >>

Oh, boy. It looks like the Brewers are onto something new in the dugout after home runs, or at least leadoff man and sparkplug Sal Frelick is. After he homered off Skenes in Tuesday’s win over the Pirates, Frelick took off his helmet and took a bite. 

Veteran starter Brandon Woodruff loved it. 

“The whole ‘Sal eating the helmet’ thing … that’s a fun one to watch out for,” Woodruff said. “Just a gritty player, and I think eating his helmet says a lot about the type of player Sal is and the rest of the guys. I told him to do it, and it’s the background on my phone now.”

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