“Kevari Thunderbird’s Journey: Triumphs, Tragedy, and the Unyielding Spirit of Baseball”
Kevari Thunderbird pursues his Major League dreams while paying tribute to his departed father.
In the realm of baseball, Kevari Thunderbird’s father, Kevin, consistently prioritized being there without fail.
Be it practices, games, or MLB Develops showcase events, Kevari could always rely on his father’s presence. Baseball served as the glue that strengthened their bond. Kevin, a standout center fielder at Simeon High School in Chicago, passed on his passion to Kevari, who now excels as a star left-hander for the nearby Kenwood Academy.
In May of last year, Kevari delivered an outstanding performance on the mound, recording 12 strikeouts to lead Kenwood to its inaugural Chicago Public League city championship. Remarkably, he celebrated his 17th birthday the very next day.
The championship victory became a true family affair, with Kevari’s two older brothers, Kevin Jr. and K’Vion, also contributing to the title-winning team. On a Monday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox, Kevin Sr. had the joy of witnessing three of his sons become champions.
Little did anyone know that it would be among the final occasions he’d witness his sons play.
“We used to go to the park and be in the backyard like 24/7. We used to talk about baseball since I even knew what a baseball was,” Kevari said last week after finishing his workouts at the 2024 DREAM Series. “That’s where my love came from and where my passion came from. He just was there every moment. He was there every step of the way. That’s [why] baseball is — it’s the greatest thing ever.”
Thunderbird was among the over 80 predominantly Black elite high school athletes invited to Tempe Diablo Stadium. There, they had the opportunity to collaborate with current and former Major League players and managers, focusing on enhancing their pitching and catching skills with the aspiration of advancing to the next level.
The DREAM Series, organized annually since 2017 during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, stands as one among a series of amateur development initiatives orchestrated by MLB and USA Baseball. The primary aim of these programs is to assist promising ballplayers, particularly those from diverse backgrounds and underserved communities, in pursuing their aspirations of making it to the big leagues.
Thunderbird has attended all of these initiatives, including the Breakthrough Series, the Hank Aaron Invitational, or the Nike RBI World Series. Having been part of the White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) program since the age of 10, Thunderbird is well-acquainted with the spotlight.
In a video featured on a special edition of MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” broadcast live from Tempe, Kenny Fullman, co-founder of the ACE program, shared a narrative: “Two hundred miles from our Chicago home lies the Field of Dreams. In 2021, on the hallowed ground of the father-son baseball movie, the dreams of kids from our Chicago ACE program came true. And one name, in particular, garnered the attention of both fans and scouts.”
Fullman was, of course, referring to Thunderbird, who showcased his pitching prowess by striking out consecutive batters on the mound in Dyersville, Iowa. This remarkable feat occurred as Chicago’s premier youth team triumphed over New York’s just one day before the White Sox secured a walk-off victory against the Yankees in the inaugural MLB at Field of Dreams Game.
As fate would have it, that happened to be the one event Kevin Sr. couldn’t attend in person. Despite being unable to make the trip, he watched the game on TV, fully engaged in his son’s performance as if he were right there in the stands.
“He was so happy when I talked to him after the game, it was like he was there with me,” Kevari said. “He said he was talking to me through the TV, and he said he felt like I was listening to him. Because at first, I was doing good, but I knew I could do better and he knew I could do better. He was just like, ‘Just chill, kid, just chill.’ And he said when he said that, I turned my whole game around.”
This experience turned out to be a pivotal moment in his overall playing career, influencing both on and off the field aspects.
“That’s kind of how I got to bond with a lot of my teammates. All of us go to school together now,” Thunderbird said. “If it wasn’t for that game, I don’t think a lot of my teammates and I would be as close as we are today. So I want to thank whoever even put us in that game, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here today.”
These were the teammates alongside whom Thunderbird secured a city championship in his junior season, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was present to offer his congratulations. These same teammates stood by his side when his world was unexpectedly disrupted two weeks later.
Tragically, on a Monday night in June, Kevin Sr. was walking in Hyde Park when he fell victim to a drive-by shooting. The 36-year-old father of five boys was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.
Kevari had plans to participate in the Breakthrough Series at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Fla., that weekend, and Kevin Sr. was set to accompany him.
In the midst of unimaginable grief, Kevari made the decision to proceed with his plans, while the rest of his family hosted a vigil alongside hundreds of community members on the baseball diamond of Kevin Sr.’s alma mater.
“That’s kind of how I got to bond with a lot of my teammates. All of us go to school together now,” Thunderbird said. “If it wasn’t for that game, I don’t think a lot of my teammates and I would be as close as we are today. So I want to thank whoever even put us in that game, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Kevari Thunderbird (@KevariThunderb1) bringing the ⛽️🔥 #BreakthroughBoyz🚀#TheRobinsonWay pic.twitter.com/8JJJJzgKCj
— MLBDevelops (@MLBDevelops) June 9, 2023
Later that summer, the Nike RBI World Series provided another avenue for Kevari to cope with the enormity of his loss. He contributed an essay to the “Breaking Barriers” contest, initiated by Jackie’s daughter, Sharon Robinson. The contest challenges participants to narrate an obstacle they have encountered or are still confronting in their lives, mirroring the way the trailblazer himself dealt with challenges in his MLB career.
Surrounded by a gathering of his peers, Thunderbird found it hard to believe what he was hearing when David James, MLB’s vice president of baseball and softball development, started reading a portion of one of the winning submissions:
Winning a city championship was a goal of mine this high school season. I learned how to play and love the game from my dad. And I vow to make my dad proud. All things I do going forward will be in memory of my father, Kevin Thunderbird, Sr.
Today, we recognize Kevari Thunderbird, Mackenzie Mercado, and Malakai Pruitt for their courage and vulnerability.
Each were celebrated at the @Nike RBI World Series after sharing their stories of overcoming adversity in their lives through “Breaking Barriers” essays. pic.twitter.com/XRyWhMjMIt
— MLBRBI (@MLBRBI) August 14, 2023
“It was shocking,” Kevari said. “A lot of people were talking to me like, ‘Man, that’s a lot of stuff you went through and you’re still here.’ … Whoever’s going through adversity, they can look at my story and be like, ‘Oh, he did it, so that means I can do it.’
“I really sat back and cried when — I didn’t cry in front of people — but when I got it, I went in my room and was just like, ‘Man, I just really did that.’ I inspired a lot of people. I didn’t know I touched that many people. It was big for me.”
As his senior season approaches, Thunderbird, who has not yet committed to a college, is directing his attention to what lies ahead. His goal for this year is not only to secure a city championship but to clinch a state championship as well. Beyond that, his aspirations are centered on being drafted, just as he and his father always discussed.
Kevari has never contemplated abandoning the game that they both cherished.
“You’ve got to keep pushing through,” Thunderbird said. “It’s just adversity, that’s really what it is. It’s just God testing you, like, ‘Can I fight through tragedies? Can I still stay on top of what I need to stay on top of?’ Because I still got people who look up to me.
“If I would have quit, it would have been like it was all for nothing. … I feel like it was just him giving me motivation. Before he even passed, there was motivation, but with him leaving, it was like, ‘All right, now you got to do it without me.’ It’s going to be 10 times harder, but you just got to get through it.”
Similar to the experience in Iowa, Kevari may not be able to physically see his father, but Kevin Sr. will always be present in his heart and memories.
