Arts & Culture

StoryCorps: How baseball turned two strangers — a coach and a player — into family

By Esther Honig,

Jasmyn Morris

Published March 22, 2024 at 5:07 AM EDT

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Kanard Lewis and Ed Holley at their StoryCorps interview in New York City on May 7, 2023.

Kanard Lewis and Ed Holley at Kanard’s graduation from Alfred University in Queens, New York on June 14, 2023. Courtesy of Danette Torres.

Ed Holley and Kanard Lewis first met on a baseball field in 2010. Ed was coaching youth baseball in New York City, and Kanard was a 14 year old third baseman.

After working with Ed, Kanard started to gain confidence, even hitting his first home run.

Then, one day, Kanard’s single mom had a health scare, and asked Ed to become her son’s legal guardian should something happen to her.

More than a decade later, Ed and Kanard sat down for StoryCorps to talk about their relationship.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired March 22, 2024 on NPR’s Morning Edition.