NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tim Corbin knows about heroes. The longtime Vanderbilt University baseball coach has won a pair of College World Series titles, including the 2019 crown. But with the coronavirus pandemic canceling this year’s games at midseason, Corbin realized the real heroes were working away from the baseball diamond.
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Corbin, thanks to an idea from his wife and an old Topps baseball card, created an online card to recognize people who are fighting to curb COVID-19 in the Middle Tennessee area.
“I will highlight a lineup of heroes who are in midseason form competing against a vicious opponent,” Corbin wrote on Twitter.
An old Topps Baseball Card and my wife’s imagination were the impetus to create a way to honor our local heroes. From this day forward, I will highlight a lineup of heroes who are in mid-season form competing against a vicious opponent. Let's Go...#herostartinglineup
— Tim Corbin (@TimCorbin) April 8, 2020
Using a design from a baseball card, Corbin tweets a photo daily and uses the hashtag #herostartinglineup.
“Maggie and I woke up this week and we had an idea. We’ve been trying to think of things to do to honor individuals on Twitter,” Corbin told WKRN. “When I saw the Topps card, I thought if we could merge those two, it would be a nice way of involving them in a baseball kind of way.”
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Corbin began posting heroes on his Twitter account Wednesday, with his first three subjects coming from the Nashville area. The first card featured Colette Wolford, a cardiology nurse practitioner from Centennial Medical Center, while Thursday’s hero was Michael Johnson, who works at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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Friday’s tweet gave a shout-out to Brett Campbell, an anesthesiologist at Ascension Saint Thomas West.
We are going over to Midtown Nashville today to recruit our 3-hole hitter. This guy is clutch and has hands like Rod Carew. Hitting 3rd, a father of 2 boys from Knoxville, TN, he is a anesthesiologist intensivist at St Thomas West…Brett Campbell #herostartinglineup #sayitsteve pic.twitter.com/fQMHIZI1aX
— Tim Corbin (@TimCorbin) April 10, 2020
Corbin said he was very impressed with the dedication shown by the medical community and first responders.
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“Just watching them operate and go to work, it almost looks like a serviceman going to war and I realize how difficult of a time it is for all of us, but especially them,” Corbin told WKRN. “I don’t want to leave anyone out, so that is why I’m doing it every day.”
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