Giants outfielder Hunter Pence helped honor the life of a die-hard Dodger fan, wearing his ashes in a necklace during a Sept. 22 game at Dodger Stadium this season, according to a report by ESPN’s William Weinbaum. The Dodgers denied Henry Janiszewski’s daughter’s request to have her father’s ashes spread at the stadium, and Pence agreed to help out after he was contacted by filmmaker Matt Liston of the digital series “Mr. Impossible.”
Liston is involved in a campaign to get Major League Baseball teams to “designate days when they would grant the wishes of fans who would like to spread up to an ounce of a loved one’s ashes in designated areas of the park.” Pence wore the necklace throughout the entirety of the Giants’ 4-2 loss, which allowed the Dodgers to clinch the NL West title.
“It’s not necessarily the physical of the ashes,” Pence said of his decision to wear Janiszewski’s ashes, per Weinbaum. “It’s being the instrument of that spirit and his presence being out there with me and hopefully giving her some closure.”
Following his death in 2010, Melissa Janiszewski spread her father’s ashes to a number of places he revered throughout the world, but wanted to bring the remaining ashes to Dodger Stadium, where she spent many evenings with him as a child.
You can see Pence wearing the necklace in question at the 6:36 mark of the video below.