Meet the Englishman who was lured to Kentucky by baseball

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Max Oxley lives in Kentucky and loves baseball and country music. That’s not exactly a unique character profile, except for this: He grew up in England.

Oxley was hired by the Louisville Bats as a graphic designer this past June, joining on with the Cincinnati Reds Triple-A affiliate shortly after graduating with a marketing degree from Florida’s Stetson University. So how did a kid from central England – specifically, from a small town outside the city of Nottingham – come to make such a dramatic cultural pivot? In three words: New York Yankees.

In 2011 Oxley and his family – mum, dad and older brother Charlie – went on a road trip from New York City to Florida. One of the first items on the agenda was a May 25 outing to the Bronx to see the Yankees take on the Blue Jays. What started out as a fun and frivolous tourist outing instead changed the trajectory of his life.

“I had never seen anything remotely like it,” said Oxley, speaking during a Louisville Bats game last month. “The only knowledge of baseball I had was from Wii Sports. Other than that, nothing. But [Derek] Jeter was there, A-Rod, Andruw Jones was with the Yankees then and he hit two home runs. I remember specifically the game was Mariano Rivera’s 1,000th appearance; they had it up on the big board.”

The English sporting landscape is of course dominated by football (or, as us Yanks call it, soccer). Oxley had never been a big fan of football, but something about baseball’s atmosphere, pacing and strategy deeply appealed to him. He started following the Yankees back home, despite the fact that most games started at midnight local time. Meanwhile, he and his brother sought out and then joined a (relatively) nearby squad, the Long Eaton Storm Baseball Club.

“So it changed from just being a viewer to continuing my love of the game by playing it at a very low level, because there’s not many people to play in England,” he said.

Oxley’s Yankees fandom peaked in 2017, when Didi Gregorious hit a three-run, game-tying home run in the A.L. Wild Card Game against the Twins. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, and Oxley wanted to be closer to the power source.

“After that moment, it was kind of set in my mind that I wanted to come to the United States [to live],” he said. “I love being here. Love the country. So many parts of it. I actually love country music as well, which is also not a big thing in England, like baseball. My dream came true when I came to study in Florida.”

Oxley notes with pride that Jacob deGrom is an alumnus of Stetson University, the central Florida school that he graduated from this spring. While there he assisted the baseball team in various capacities and honed the skills he now utilizes on a daily basis with the Bats.

“Marketing is my major, and I love design and signage. There’s no country in the world that has as much. Some people say it’s ugly, seeing big fast food signs up, but for me it amplified all the good times I had on vacation with my family here. And then seeing the level of marketing that goes into sports here, it’s far superior, I believe, than any sport back home.”

Oxley obtained his post with the Bats following a frantic post-graduation job search. Like most Minor League Baseball jobs, day-to-day tasks vary. He designs graphics of all kinds, some of which are used in-game and on social media, and pitches in with whatever else needs doing. He’s also a Reds fan now, in addition to his longstanding support of the Yankees.

“I just love the game of baseball and am extremely lucky to be able to watch it, to be talking right now as there’s a game going on,” he said.

Explaining the intricacies of Minor League Baseball to his friends and family back home can be difficult, but on another level, they totally get where he’s coming from.

“A lot of my friends, and people I went to school with, say I’m the most American British person they’ve ever met. With these interests, it makes sense.”