Mossila Kingsley Gaba (January 26, 2006 – July 28, 2020) was an American superfan of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and

Ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * Benedictine Ravens, ...

and a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on ...

personality. In 2019, he became the first person to announce an NFL draft pick written in

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille disp ...

. Gaba was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in July 2020. Gaba had battled four diagnoses of cancer and spent 75% of his life in hospitals.

Life

Mo Gaba was raised in

Glen Burnie, Maryland Glen Burnie is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population of Glen Burnie was 67,639 at the 2010 census. History In 1812, Elias Glenn, a di ...

. His first diagnosis of cancer occurred at the age of 9 months. He became blind soon thereafter. After two diagnoses of

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and it is almost exclusively fo ...

, he was diagnosed with

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma ...

at the age of 6. Gaba had to leave on-site classes at George Cromwell Elementary and attend

virtual school An online school (virtual school or e-school or cyber-school) teaches students entirely or primarily online or through the Internet. It has been defined as "education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are se ...

from the hospital after his bone cancer diagnosis. He graduated from middle school in June 2020 by which point, he had spent 75% of his life in hospitals.

Sports radio and legacy

In 2015, Gaba began secretly calling in to

while his mother was at work. She learned of his calls after receiving an invitation from the radio hosts, written in Braille, to speak at Gaba's school. Gaba became a regular guest on radio programs. He generated a following from his calls to 105.7 The Fan, Mix 106.5 and CBS Sports Radio. Fundraising efforts by radio listeners raised thousands of dollars after his latest cancer diagnosis. In 2017, he threw a

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

for the

during a series against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. Gaba participated in a

coin toss A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

at a

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

game. In June 2017, Gaba graduated from elementary school. In 2019, Gaba became the first person to announce an NFL draft pick written in

. Despite aggressive

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

, radiation, operations, and a

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce ...

, Gaba's cancer

metastasized Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

to his neck, legs, brain, and lungs. Hours before his death on July 28, 2020, Gaba was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame as the second recipient of the Wild Bill Hagy award. His Braille draft card is also on display at the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

. Since 2020, the letters "MO" of Baltimore Ravens in the

M&T Bank Stadium M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the ...

endzone are painted either gold or white in his honor. On the second anniversary of Mo's passing away, the Orioles celebrated the inaugural "Mo Gaba Day" on July 28th, 2022 against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. The Orioles defeated the Rays 3-0, with an inside-the-park homer by Trey Mancini.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaba, Mo 2006 births 2020 deaths Deaths from cancer in Maryland Radio personalities from Baltimore African-American radio personalities American sports radio personalities People from Glen Burnie, Maryland African-American children 21st-century African-American people