Speaker 1: Baseball is a staple of summer. For one local baseball ambassador, the game is also a way to carry on his father's legacy, a legacy that's led him to ballparks across the country. NWPB's Avery Cooper reports. 

Eric Mertens: Lets Go!

Avery Cooper: That's Eric Mertens, better known as Eric the Peanut Guy. His love of the game runs deep, and it all started with his dad, Ed Mertens. 

Eric Mertens: We'd play catch all the time, even as I grew older into adulthood. 

Avery Cooper: And at Dust Devils games, Ed found another way to share that love of the game. He'd look through the crowd for someone who could use a little boost. Then he'd buy something like a mini bat or a team baseball and have Eric give the souvenir to that fan. 

Eric Mertens: Well, come with me, Dad. Like, you're the one that bought it. And he's like, no, no, I don't want them to know it's from me. You could just say it's from you or from the Dust Devils team, whatever. He doesn't need to know it's from me. 

Avery Cooper: Ed died in 2017. After that, fans started giving Eric money to continue the tradition. 

Daryl Ebert: After Ed passed, then it became, how do we continue this? And the Dust Devils helped kind of fund a little bit of it early on, and then it's really taken off. 

Avery Cooper: That's Daryl Ebert, the Dust Devils president. He says it's now known as Ed's Fund, which turned Ed's tradition into a legacy. 

Eric Mertens: I can still kind of sense my dad there whenever I meet someone who wants to connect or who wants to buy a kid a souvenir. 

Avery Cooper: From Pasco, I'm Avery Cooper.