When Sean Manaea was a child, he told her that he didn’t think he could become a major leaguer, prompting his mother, Opal, to respond that new pitchers join the bigs every year and there was no reason he couldn’t be one of them.

If he dreamed, then she believed. The world is filled with enough people who roll their eyes.

“Sean would tell his mom, ‘I want to throw 97 [mph] one day,’” Manaea’s travel team coach, Jim Nohos, said. “And Opal is like, ‘Oh, Sean, don’t worry about it. You’ll throw the 97 one day. You don’t have to throw it today.’”

There was no evidence to suggest Manaea could be a future first-round draft pick or longtime pro, “but I was like, ‘I want this. And I got this.’”{ai:summary}<p>Sean Manaea's mother instilled belief in his baseball dreams from a young age, encouraging and supporting his ambition to make it to the major leagues. Her unwavering faith in his potential fueled his determination to succeed, proving the naysayers wrong. #sports</p>

The uncut surprises of Sean Manaea, the Samoan Hoosier who sings on the mound, named his glove ‘She-Hulk’ and has become the Mets’ steadiest pitcher

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