It was one of those moments that reminds us why we love sports.
The scorecard will read that Aaron Judge hit a home run to left field off Toronto Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah in the sixth inning to tie the game 1-1. But the cameras that followed that crushed baseball into the seats at Rogers Center tell a whole other story.
The ball was scooped up in the 200-level by a Blue Jays fan whose initial reaction was what one might expect: a burst of excitement and a fist pump. It only took a couple of seconds for that fan to decide that there was someone else who should take that ball home.
The ball was gifted to a young New York Yankees fan who was wearing a Judge shirt and the iconic Yankees ball cap. The boy was overcome with emotion and instantly sobbed into the arms of another fan who, just a few moments ago, was a stranger sitting in front of him at a baseball game.
The two fans in rival baseball attire embraced for several moments before settling back into their seats.
“Thank you so much,” the Yankees supporter appeared to say on videos of the viral interaction from the Sportsnet broadcast.
In a long baseball season, sometimes the power of sport and how it can connect us is the story of the game. This was one of those nights.
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