KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Even after transforming hundreds of lawns — and doing it for nearly 40 million social media followers — this week's job had this viral star nervous.
Spencer, the 26-year-old face of SB Mowers, posts weekly videos of him reclaiming and taming overgrown and neglected residential lawns for free. He said he goes by only his first name to protect his privacy.
He rose to online fame as the videos have gone viral again and again, often ending with shocked and grateful seniors, disabled residents and parents thanking him for his hours of labor.
“My prayers have been answered,” one homeowner said in a video.
After showing a time-lapsed transformation, another responded, “Now my kids can come play outside!”
“You’re an angel. An angel fell out of the sky,” reacted one man.
Spencer said it’s moments like those that have kept him going lawn after lawn for a little over three years.
“I’ve probably done around 200 at this point,” he said.
But one email request stood out — for a date in March.
As Major League Baseball teams around the country were preparing their fields for Thursday's opening day, the Kansas City Royals decided to call up SB Mowing.
“He’s done such wonderful things. If he could come over here and be a part of us, I was all for it,” said Trevor Vance, senior director of grounds and landscaping at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. “Now, I warned him coming up here, you’re going to be cutting grass that you’re not used to, because he’s used to cutting 6-foot tall grass and ours is all below an inch.”
For Spencer — who grew up in Kansas and is a longtime Royals fan — it was a real pinch-me moment.
“It was really weird when I saw the email that the Royals were reaching out, and they said ‘Hey, we you know, we love your content,’” said Spencer.
He spent the day with the grounds team, learning to cut and stripe this grass, even conditioning and preparing the dirt and the infield.
“He brought his work clothes and went to work,” Vance said. “He did a really good job. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give him an 8 … for his first time, a solid 8.”
The experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Spencer that changed the way he watches baseball.
“I’ll be looking down at the grass on opening day and just being like, ‘Hey, I had a little part in that and that awesome-looking turf.’”
And it made an impression on the Royals staff, too.
“If Spencer ever came back and said 'I'’m done cutting 6-foot grass, can I have a job?,’ I’d hire him that very day," Vance said. "He’s a hardworking man with a big heart, and you just can’t find those guys around too often.”
Of course, Spencer is sharing the Royals experience online on his stream of good deeds that he hopes is inspiring others.
He wants “to beautify my community and just help people out, but it’s also to encourage the people that are seeing my videos to get out and help their neighbors out too,” Spencer said
