LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Max Oxley lives in Kentucky and loves baseball and country music. It’s not exactly a unique character profile, other than this: he grew up in England.
Oxley was hired by the Louisville Bats as a graphic designer last June, joining the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A affiliate shortly after graduating from Florida’s Stetson University with a degree in marketing. So how did a child from the middle of England – specifically from a small town outside the city of Nottingham – come to create such a dramatic cultural shift? In three words: the New York Yankees.
In 2011, Oxley and his family – mom, dad and older brother Charlie – took a road trip from New York to Florida. One of the first items on the agenda was a May 25 outing to the Bronx to watch the Yankees take on the Blue Jays. What started as a fun, frivolous sightseeing outing ultimately changed the trajectory of his life.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Oxley said, speaking at 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 specifically remember that this match was Mariano Rivera’s 1000th appearance; they had written it on the big board.
The English sporting landscape is of course dominated by football (or, as we Yankees call it, football). Oxley had never been a big football fan, but something about the atmosphere, pace and strategy of baseball appealed to him deeply. He began following the Yankees home, despite the fact that most games started at midnight local time. During this time, he and his brother sought out and then joined a (relatively) nearby team, the Long Eaton Storm Baseball Club.
“So I went from just being a spectator to continuing my love of the game by playing it at a very low level because there aren’t many people to play in England,” he said .
Oxley’s Yankees fandom reached its peak in 2017, when Didi Gregorious hit a game-tying three-run home run in the AL Wild Card Game against the Twins. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and Oxley wanted to get closer to the power source.
“After that moment, I had it in my head that I wanted to come to the United States (to live),” he said. “I love being here. I love the country. There are so many parts. Actually, I also like country music, which is also not very popular 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 from which he graduated this spring. While there, he helped the baseball team in various capacities and honed the skills he now uses daily with the Bats.
“Marketing is my specialty and I love design and signage. No country in the world has so many. Some say it’s ugly to see big fast food brands, but for me it amplified all the good times I had on vacation with my family here. And then, given the level of marketing devoted to sport here, it is much higher, I believe, than any sport back home.
Oxley landed his job with the Bats following a frantic job search after graduation. Like most jobs in Minor League Baseball, daily duties vary. He designs graphics of all kinds, some of which are used in-game and on social media, and helps with whatever needs to be done. He is also now a Reds fan, in addition to his longtime support of the Yankees.
“I love the game of baseball and I’m extremely fortunate to be able to watch it and talk right now while there’s a game in progress,” he said.
Explaining the intricacies of Minor League Baseball to friends and family back home can be difficult, but on another level, they completely understand where he’s coming from.
“A lot of my friends and people I went to school with say I’m the most American Brit they’ve ever met. With these interests, it makes sense.
