MLB Legend Steve Sax Honors Late Son Through Digital Art

When Steve Sax bought the painting "Babe and the Kids" at a New York City exhibit in 2008, he couldn't have known how perfectly it would honor the son he would one day lose.

The five-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion fell in love with artist Opie Otterstad's masterpiece at first sight. The painting depicts Babe Ruth surrounded by children, but with a twist: each child is actually a young Hall of Famer, researched over eight years through county records, biographies, and trips to Cooperstown.

Now Sax has transformed that painting into 200 limited edition digital copies on the blockchain. A portion of every sale goes to the Steve Sax Family Foundation, helping young people pursue aviation dreams like those of his son John.

John Sax was his father's carbon copy in looks and spirit. When Steve's mother first saw baby John, she gasped: "That's Steven."

John caught the flying bug as a young boy during a ride in a World War II biplane. His passion was so intense that during one Little League game, he missed a fly ball because he was mesmerized by a C-130 transport plane overhead, excitedly telling his dad about its $8 million engines.

That same determination that drove Steve through 444 stolen bases and the "yips" that nearly ended his career lived in John too. John pursued his dream of flight all the way into military service.

When John died in an aircraft accident in 2022, Steve was shattered. But he channeled his grief the only way he knew how: by moving forward.

Why This Inspires

Steve Sax knows the pain of losing a child never fades. But instead of letting tragedy end the story, he's using his platform to launch other dreamers into the sky his son loved so much.

The painting that once caught his eye now carries a deeper meaning: dreams passing from one generation to the next, just like the resemblance between father and son. Through scholarships funded by "Babe and the Kids," John's passion for flight will lift others toward the clouds.

Steve keeps moving because that's what he's always done, but now every step forward carries his son's memory into something beautiful.