Robin Clary was scrolling through her Twitter feed when she stumbled upon the perfect student. It was Summer 2016 and the Folsom, California-based piano instructor couldn’t help but notice the 7-footer inquiring about lessons. In the midst of his first professional offseason, Willie Cauley-Stein was bored. He wanted to create. He always does when he’s not playing basketball.

Mort, Mat Latos’ go-to Cincinnati clubbie, had the right-hander’s gameday order down pat. Without fail, whenever Latos strolled into Great American Ballpark, he’d find Mort waiting with a chicken, bacon and ranch sandwich and a bottle of Cholula Hot Sauce. These days, Latos, 30, spreads his own peanut butter and jelly with cheap plastic knives before games. Now a closer for the independent Can-Am League's New Jersey Jackals...

Once a budding prospect in the Chicago Cubs system, Dennis Bair's career was ravaged by injuries. It was during rehab that he found his true calling, though. Now, Bair dedicates his life to the search for missing children.

Lenn Sakata was ill-prepared to go behind the plate on Aug. 24, 1983. He had no glove, no equipment and no cup. But with Baltimore’s bench depleted and the game heading for extra innings, the Orioles’ utilityman didn’t have a choice. So he scoured the dugout and locker room, found a spare supporter and some extra gear and borrowed Rick Dempsey’s mitt.

Huddled around J.B. Shuck’s cell phone in the visitors’ clubhouse at Citi Field, a group of Marlins can’t believe their eyes. Bewildered, they watch a video from August 2013. Pictured is a man wearing a Jacksonville Suns uniform as he entertains a crowd at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. He starts off slow, tossing three balls in the air. Then four. Then five. Then he moves on to bowling pins. Next, razor-sharp machetes cut through the air. Yes, they’re real. So are the torches.

Sandro Mamukelashvili was nine years old and in Chicago when the bombs started to drop. It was by pure coincidence that the siblings came to America just days before the Russo-Georgian War broke out.