SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Champ Pederson was working his job at a grocery store here when he got a text from his brother, Joc, then another. There was a photo and a video. When he opened them, Champ was just as gobsmacked as Joc was when he walked into the home clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium for the first time that morning.
Next to Joc’s new locker, boxes of sunflower seeds were piled high in the adjacent stall, almost reaching the nameplate attached to the wood paneling above: Champ, Joc’s oldest brother born with Down syndrome, had a spot reserved just for him.
“Phenomenal,” Champ said, from the family’s seats behind home plate a few days later for Joc’s debut in a Giants uniform, in attendance as they have for his first games at each of his previous three major league stops. The difference this time: Champ, Joc and their two other siblings grew up in Palo Alto, attending Giants games.
An open invitation to his brothers’ clubhouses is nothing new for Champ — he’s given enough pregame speeches to write a book, literally, including one especially memorable one before the 2015 Division Series — but after Joc’s tenures in Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta, the family no longer has to obscure their true allegiances.
“The Dodgers, they completely embraced Champ. It was a really unbelievable experience, how they included him. It was great,” said Shelly Pederson, the boys’ mother. “The Cubs and the Braves were, you know, inclusive and welcoming, as well. But then for Joc to go to his locker and have a name plate for him and a jersey the first day, it was pretty amazing.”
While Joc played his first game in the same colors he wore at Candlestick as a kid, Champ watched from a few rows behind the Giants’ on-deck circle, wearing a matching jersey provided by the team. Only, rather than “Pederson” on the back, block letters displayed “Champ” above the No. 23.
When Joc learned Champ had immediately adorned the jersey he received earlier that day, he couldn’t help but smile.
“I know it was hard for him to transition to a Dodgers fan, but he did it anyway,” Joc said. “He’s supported me all the time. To be able to come home to his favorite team he grew up watching. … He’s super excited.”
That’s the universal reaction for anybody when they’re asked about Champ, who started giving pregame pep talks for Joc’s other brother, Tyger, and his baseball teams at University of the Pacific. Those speeches eventually turned into a family heirloom — The Book of Champ — and Champ moved on to a bigger stage.
The national audience was first introduced to Champ at the 2015 Home Run Derby, which he watched from the field at Great American Ballpark as Joc slugged his way to the final round with 39 total blasts. Champ threw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium in 2017 and, as an employee of the Warriors’ front office the past four years, got to introduce their starting lineups in 2018.
As Joc’s star grew, so did the Dodgers’ success. He’s made playoff appearances in all seven of his MLB seasons, starting in 2015.
When Champ was in attendance, he tended to gravitate to the coaching staff, Joc said, who then in a short matter of time would have their own inside jokes poking fun at Joc, 29, forever the baby brother to Champ, the eldest of the Pederson clan at 34 years old.
At the end of every winning handshake line, there was Champ, with a celebratory beer in his hand.
“Just fitting in with the guys,” Joc said. “He never takes anything too seriously. … A lot of us make things more confusing, more clutter upstairs. The freedom of not caring what people think of you. The freedom of not, just being able to be yourself all the time. That’s what he does on an everyday basis. It’s fun to watch. It’s pure joy.”
Perhaps Champ’s most memorable major league moment came before Joc’s very first playoff game. He stood up and addressed the Dodgers clubhouse before they were set to open the 2015 NL Division Series against the Mets.
“His energy is infectious. He’s just one of those types of people. No matter what he says, you really feel the energy behind what he’s saying and the commitment,” said left-hander Alex Wood, who was there in 2015 and excited to team up again with Joc — and Champ. “He’s such a sweet guy. Loves being around the field and the guys. It’ll be fun once we get him in here.”
Champ hasn’t had a chance to pay a visit to the Giants’ clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium yet — he recently moved into the family’s winter home on the other side of the valley and is kept busy with work — but when he does, there is a spot waiting for him.
The brains behind the idea was Giants equipment manager Brad Grems, also responsible for welcoming Kris Bryant and his family to their San Francisco hotel room last summer with bundles of team gear awaiting them.
“A couple of our guys were talking and we knew how prominent Champ was in the clubhouses and we wanted him to feel included,” Grems said. “We had the room and wanted to do it make sure Joc felt at home. … That’s kind of what we take a lot of pride in. It’s very important to me that when we get a new player in, I want them to feel like they’re a Giant.”
It didn’t go unnoticed by Pederson, who upon his arrival said the club lived up its reputation as a “first-class organization.”
As Joc’s father Stu, a one-time Dodgers farmhand, remarked beneath the Arizona sun as he watched one son in a Giants jersey and sat next to another, “Coming home to his hometown team, can’t beat it.”
