esker thrived academically and as an athlete.fall of 1983, esker stepped onto the diamond at stanford university with a says many of the traits hem. he applied on the baseball field, he actually learned on a different type of field in salinas. >> i spent a summer working in the lettuce fields. you know, a friend of mine whose father was a farmer said he was putting together a college crew to work in the in the in the fields. the college crew consisted of about four college people, and the rest were migrant workers. and it was it was a great experience, you know, very, very humbling. so i learned to never just be be above hard work. >> esker went on to play professional baseball for four seasons, but the cardinals called him back. stanford's maintenance crew was on the field as an unexpected reminder of how far he has come. >> right now, i've been on that mower. i've mowed the outfield grass. yeah, everything that they're doing right now, i've done. and it just it just all added to what i was going to be prepared for, you know? so