To the Houston Astros, do-everything outfielder George Springer is to the team what donuts are to Homer Simpson, who routinely mutters, “Mmmmmm, donuts… what can’t they do?”

Springer already has two All-Star Game appearances, a World Series championship, and a World Series MVP award already stuffed into his bulging pocket.

A potential MVP season is currently underway, and Springer has managed to add a couple of impressive and enviable screen credits to the point where he has now earned his Screen Actors Guild card.

Springer is now being featured in his own regional BMW TV commercial, in much the same way actor Matthew McConaughey starred in several national ads for Lincoln. We’ve all seen those, so here’s a couple of spot-on parodies.

Springer can now add executive producer to his credits, as he and actor Paul Rudd have joined together (with actor/director Patrick James Lynch) to fund the new film documentary, “My Beautiful Stutter.” The film has already debuted at the Indy Film Fest at Indiana State University and is set to enjoy wide release on July 4, 2019.

A Lot to SAY

A synopsis of the film: “The documentary follows five kids who stutter, ages 9 to 18, from all over the United States, who after experiencing a lifetime of bullying and stigmatization, meet other children who stutter at an interactive arts-based program, The Stuttering Association for the Young, based in New York City.

“Their journey to SAY find some close to suicide, others withdrawn and fearful, exhausted and defeated from failed fluency training, societal pressures to not stutter or the decision to remain silent. Over the course of a year we witness first hand the incredible transformation that happens when these young people of wildly different backgrounds experience for the first time the revolutionary idea at the heart of SAY: that it’s okay to stutter.”

The Transformative Springer

George Springer’s own journey with his lifelong stuttering has been well documented.

“Springer has had a stutter his entire life, and as a young boy he rarely wanted to talk,” relayed Houstoniamag.com in June 2017. “Now, as a professional athlete who addresses the public and reporters on a daily basis, he’s learned to not let the stutter control him—and he’s encouraging others to do the same.

“In 2014, Springer became the spokesperson for the Stuttering Association for the Young, a nonprofit organization committed to constructing a supportive environment and safe spaces for young people who stutter.”

For several years, now, Springer has selflessly hosted the annual George Springer Bowling Benefit at Lucky Strike in Houston. Proceeds from the events help less fortunate families send their children to Camp SAY, a two-week camp that gives youth who stutter the opportunity to nurture new friendships and empower themselves.

“I’m extremely happy for all the kids to go out and to truly see that they’re not the only ones,” Springer says. “I know from experience that that can be a very isolating feeling.”

“Be Who You Are”

Springer credits his involvement in baseball as the outlet that gave him great comfort through his challenging adolescent years. Later, in college, his baseball coach noticed that the outfielder’s stutter usually went away when he talked about the things he was passionate about, particularly his love of baseball.

“He told me that I don’t ever stutter if I’m talking about something that I like to talk about, especially if I’m talking about the game,” Springer told Houstoniamag. “The game is something that I’m comfortable with, it’s something that I love.

Finally, Springer expressed his desire for helping others, in a statement that easily reflects his hoped-for reaction to “My Beautiful Stutter”:

“The main goal for me is to keep showing kids and adults that you can be who you are and do whatever it is that you want to do, if that’s speaking in front of a camera or talking in front of a group of people, you can do whatever it is you want to do. I hope that they can use me as an example. I know I’m going to [stutter], but it doesn’t stop me from speaking.”