Who knew?

Who knew that when longtime ThinkBlueLA forum member Joe Pierre (known by many Dodger fans as OldBrooklynFan) was taking the number 7 subway train from his home in Brooklyn to Citi Field last July to meet up with fellow ThinkBlueLA member Will Isabella (Truebluewill), my daughter Christina, her roommate Whitney and myself for the Dodgers-Mets series, he would encounter a complete stranger named Brant Weil and his daughter, who are also huge Dodger fans and were also on their way to the ballpark.

Having something in common to talk about and an hour subway ride in which to do so, the (then) 74-year-old Pierre, who attended his first Dodger game at Ebbets Field in 1947 at the age of 9, began telling Weil and his daughter stories about Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Don Newcombe, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo and the rest of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and about Ebbets Field. He also told them how devastated and brokenhearted he was when the Dodgers moved west in 1958 but quickly added that he has remained loyal to his beloved Dodgers in spite of the move.

So captivated was Weil with Pierre’s stories that he asked Joe for his name and phone number so that they could remain in contact with one another. And of course the inevitable happened just as it has to all of us at one time or another, Weil misplaced the piece of paper with Pierre’s information on it.

Joe Pierre – OldBrooklynFan

Most people would have simply blown it off as one of those “oh well” things, but die-hard Dodger fans are not like most people – they are… well… die-hard Dodger fans and are as passionate about their Dodgers as they are about life itself.

“How on earth can I possibly locate this lifelong Dodger fan that I met on the 7 train,” Weil remembers asking himself, not even remembering Joe Pierre’s name. “I would love to meet up with him again for the (2013) Dodgers and Mets series at Citi Field, but how do I find him?”

Without Pierre’s name, Weil couldn’t even do a Google search on the 75-year-old Dodger fan. Had he been able to do so, Weil would have found a 2009 article written about Pierre when Dodgers VP of Communications Josh Rawitch (who is now with the Diamondbacks organization) had arranged a once-in-a-lifetime trip for Joe Pierre and had him flown out to Los Angeles to tour Dodger Stadium, meet several current and former Dodger players (including former Brooklyn Dodger legend Don Newcombe) and attend several games, all courtesy of former Dodger owner Frank McCourt. But alas, without Pierre’s name, such a Google search was impossible.

On Monday morning, April 22, the day prior to the first game of the 2013 Dodgers-Mets series at Citi Field, Weil played his last card – he sent an email to Eric Stephen of the popular True Blue LA Dodger blog site on the remote chance that Stephen might know who this longtime Dodger fan from Brooklyn is, and an even more remote chance that he might know of some way to contact him. Weil did this because he recalled that the old Dodger fan had said something about meeting up with some friends of his who were somehow connected to a Dodger blog. Because Weil himself is a longtime follower of True Blue LA, he rolled the dice hoping that perhaps this was the one.

It was not.

But here is where this story really gets interesting.

This past spring, a group of us from the ThinkBlueLA forum met in Glendale, Arizona to take in a week of Dodger spring training games; and when I say a group, I am talking about what at one point during the week was eleven members that included Dodger fans from Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Ohio and California. Also in our group were Will Isabella from New York City and Joe Pierre from Brooklyn. The planning and preparation for this absolutely fantastic trip had taken more than a year.

Late one afternoon while at Camelback Ranch, several in our group wanted to try to get an autograph from Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, who had called the game earlier that day. Although we didn’t know it at the time, Scully had already left the Ranch, having been driven to the airport and leaving his rental car in the players lot. As our group waited in vain, I spotted my friend and colleague Eric Stephen walking out of the Dodger offices, where I myself had been only days earlier. I have known Eric for a little over a year and see him quite frequently at Dodger Stadium. In fact, Eric was kind enough to take me under his wing and show me the ropes in and around Dodger Stadium when we expanded our four-year-old fan-based Dodger forum to include a new blog site last April.

ThinkBlueLA forum members Joe Pierre (Brooklyn), Will Isabella (New York City), Harold Uhlman (Nova Scotia, Canada), Ron Cervenka (California), Mike LeClair (British Columbia, Canada) and Gary Smith (California) at Camelback Ranch. Minutes after this photo was taken, I introduced Eric Stephen of True Blue LA to this group.

I was well aware that several in our group were regular followers of Eric’s blog site so I took a moment to introduce Eric to our group. As I did so, I mentioned to Eric where each of them had traveled from including, of course, Joe Pierre from Brooklyn. For those of you unfamiliar with Eric Stephen, he has a mind and memory of a computer.

Lo and behold, on that Monday morning before the first Dodgers-Mets game, I received a forwarded email from Eric which of course was Brant Weil’s email. Eric had recalled my introduction of one of our members who hailed from Brooklyn and thought that perhaps he was the elderly gentleman who Weil was inquiring about. (Did I mention that Eric Stephen has a mind and memory of a computer?).

Upon receiving the email from Eric, I found a photo from the bazillion that I took during spring training 2013 that included Joe Pierre. I then replied to Weil’s email and attached the photo of Joe and asked if this was the guy he was looking for. It took all of two minutes for Weil to reply to my email with the words “That’s Him!” included.

Weil informed me that he had a couple of extra tickets for the Dodgers-Mets series at Citi Field and that he would absolutely love to have Joe and Will join him. I subsequently put Weil in touch with Will (Joe doesn’t do too well with e-anything) and the three of them were able to hook up for Thursday’s series finale, where they enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together at the ballpark, not to mention a Dodger victory. Immediately after the game, Brant Weil registered for the ThinkBlueLA forum and is now part of our growing family.

Brant Weil with Clayton Kershaw on the day that Clayton received his Cy Young Award at Dodger Stadium.

When you stop and think about how this story unfolded and then realize that less than a decade ago none of this would have been possible, it makes you realize just how powerful and useful social media has become in our daily lives. It also makes you realize that it truly is a small world.