DUNEDIN, Fla. — Louis Varland’s older brother Gus spent time in the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen during the 2023-24 seasons, so he was in the loop when fellow reliever Alex Vesia lost his infant daughter, Sterling Sol, during the World Series. When he disclosed what was happening, that led to a gesture of solidarity by the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen in the midst of a fiercely fought Fall Classic.
“I knew he and his family and everybody around him was going through a tough time, I thought the least I could do is throw his number on my hat and show him our support, not only just to him, but to the team that’s also going through it, and everybody involved,” said Varland. “I shared what was going on and I said, ‘I’m going to do this, you all should do it, too, if you want to,’ and everybody was pretty much on board to show their support.”
Vesia acknowledged that support Friday during an emotional address at Dodgers camp, when reading from a prepared statement, he relayed how he and his wife Kayla noticed the No. 51 on Varland’s cap during Game 6.
“I immediately texted Gus Varland, his brother, and I asked him if I was seeing that correctly,” Vesia said. “He texted me back right away and he said, ‘The Varlands love you, dude. The whole Toronto bullpen has it, too. It’s bigger than baseball. We love you all.’ Kay and I, we were very emotional. We were super overwhelmed with emotion and the baseball community, the relationships you make along the way, it showed that it’s much bigger than baseball.”
Varland heard from Gus at the time that Vesia had noticed and appreciated the support, but he was moved by the mention during the right-hander’s address.
“It was really cool to hear that from him,” said Varland. “That’s not easy to do, just to make that statement and not easy to deal with what he’s going through. He did not need to do that at all. But it was pretty cool he put that in there, not just me, but all the teammates involved here that were part of that.”
Vesia was left off the World Series roster due to what the Dodgers said at the time was “a deeply personal matter,” and he later announced that Sterling Sol had died Oct. 26, on the travel day between Games 2 and 3.
The Dodgers beat the Blue Jays in a charged seven-game set that included the benches clearing briefly during the decisive contest, after Andres Gimenez was hit in the right forearm by Justin Wrobleski in the fourth inning.
But even in such a high-stakes, high-stress, competitive framework, there was room for humanity between the rivals.
“That’s exactly it,” said Varland. “There are battles being fought and we’re playing baseball, but it’s not like the end-all, be-all is that baseball game. If someone is going through a hard time, you can put baseball aside and show your support, even in the heat of that moment and that series and everything. You’re still a human being on the inside with feelings and there has to be a human-being element in those moments.”
