Parents honor 16-year-old's memory through baseball tournament

Update: Reporter Kevin Rader and photographer Steve Rhodes won an Edward R. Murrow Award for this story.

We all have that special place where we wish we could be; a place that reminds us of who we are or who we were.

"Every once in a while I will swing out to the park when I know no one is here," Kim Manlove said as he surveyed the baseball field in front of him. "Hear the shouts from the outfield. The ghosts play here."

He spent a lot of time on this field with his son David.

"He was a natural athlete," he laments.


Mom Marissa spent just as much time cheering them on.

"Just the fun. Just the innocent pleasures," is how mom Marissa remembers it.

"He opened up a whole new world for us," Kim said.

They were all in, until suddenly it was all over. The boy who excelled between the lines was living a life outside of them. He succumbed to his disease of addiction in June 2001. He was only 16 years old.

"Just a couple weeks before he died, he said to me, 'I want to do something with my life, Mom. I want to make a difference'," Marissa recalled.


So the Manloves stepped up to the plate. Granting David's wish, they created a weekend of baseball to raise money for and awareness of addiction - the David Manlove Memorial Tournament. Now in its 13th year, it draws more than 20 teams from across the state.

"We could be his voice for him. That is what we see when we are out at the ball field," Marrisa comments as baseball surrounds her.

"It's not just his legacy but a gift from him," Kim added.

It's a gift they were willing to share over the years with literally thousands, but there was always something missing. There was a lingering emptiness. After all, they would never see their son play on these fields again - or so they thought until they made a random discovery of another one of David's gifts, this one meant just for them.


"It was on the top of the shelf, covered in dust. I actually got it down thinking I would throw it away and then I saw 'Dave LC baseball'," Kim remembered as they sat in the television room of their home in Lawrence.

It was a memory they had missed. So 13 years after losing David, they found him again in old home videos of his days on the diamond.

"I can still remember actually being there," Marissa remarked as the DVD player begins to play and David comes into the picture. Both Marissa and Kim even cheered as though they were watching the game in person as it happened.


"Discovering that video after 13 years was beautiful. Just brought him alive again for us both. What a gift," Kim says as the videotape runs out and the television screen fades into black.

You can learn more about the David Manlove Memorial Tournament on the tournament's website.