Facebook Unites Orioles Pitcher Troy Patton and Half-Sister at Fenway

by Hal Spivack

Filed under: Orioles

Wednesday was a night to remember forever for the 25-year-old Baltimore Orioles left-handed pitcher Troy Patton. Not because he was pitching in the majors for the first time in more than three years, but because he was able to do it in front of a 34-year-old half-sister whom he never met before, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Patton's father was previously married and his ex-wife moved away with their daughter, Heather, 34, when she was just four years old. Patton's father never saw her again, and neither had Troy - until this week at Fenway Park.

According to Patton, his father had hired private investigators in the past to find Heather, but to no avail.

"I knew about her when I was younger. My dad has always talked about her. 'Oh, it's my daughter's birthday today,'" Troy Patton told the The Baltimore Sun. "It really hurt him every year because he tried to find her earlier. Technology wasn't what it is now."

But everything changed when Patton's father, Dave, set up a Facebook account. Patton, who now lives in Houston and is remarried with four boys -- including Troy -- searched for "Heather Patton" on the social media network and found her listed as a flight attendant in Boston. She reportedly joined the social media site in March, allowing her father to find her.

When the two communicated through Facebook, Dave Patton and Heather eventually agreed to meet at Fenway Park for three days in September to see the Red Sox and Orioles play this past week.

 

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