It is, perhaps, exactly what one might expect from someone whose social media handle is “bballdadd44745.”
Yet Steve Schneider’s reaction as he filmed his son’s now-famous home run on the first pitch of Wednesday’s Game 5 of the World Series is so pure that it’s gone viral and been shared by the official MLB X account.
“Oh, no! No way!” Schneider shouts in the video as Davis Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays cracks the ball into the first row in left field.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” he continues as his son rounds the bases. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
No description required… 😀 <a href=”https://t.co/q4SSfOERVD”>pic.twitter.com/q4SSfOERVD</a>
From there, it’s just incoherent screaming and high fives and hugs, which, honestly: appropriate. Because as MLB.com put it, the elder Schneider “just so happened to capture a first-person account of some World Series history.”
Not only is it rare to hit a home run on the very first pitch of a game, but when teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit another one two swings later, Toronto became the first team to begin a World Series game with back-to-back homers.
Schneider’s hit also set the tone for the rest of the game, which the Toronto Blue Jays dominated to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1.
But what’s captured the heart of fans everywhere is just the sounds of a proud dad.
“You cannot watch this as a father and not have tears in your eyes,” commented someone on the video shared by MLB’s X account.
Davis Schneider’s dad captured the moment his son hit a leadoff homer in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldSeries?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WorldSeries</a> Game 5 🥹<br><br>📹: <a href=”https://twitter.com/bballdad44745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@bballdad44745</a> <a href=”https://t.co/hlAiOD7L5t”>pic.twitter.com/hlAiOD7L5t</a>
“Seeing a World Series Game 5 leadoff homer through a parent’s eyes is pure baseball magic. Davis Schneider gave his Dad a memory for a lifetime on that first pitch,” wrote someone else.
“Dad cam hit harder than the ball,” commented another.
Friday’s Game 6 in Toronto has the potential for another wholesome moment: not only will beloved Canadian children’s singer Raffi be in the stands, but he’s (jokingly?) offered to sing the national anthem.
Blue Jays stun L.A. 6-1 to take World Series lead
At the L.A. airport Thursday morning, Steve told CBC Toronto that Davis typically asks him not to record his bats, and usually he honours his son’s requests. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Davis’s 2023 Blue Jays debut at Fenway Park, when he hit a solo home run and Steve missed out on capturing his family’s reaction.
“So I said, this time, if he does something, you know, I’m going to tape it, so I did. And I’m happy for the result,” Steve said.
Usually, the team bats Davis second, Steve said, so he wasn’t sure what to expect when his son went up first.
“I was just hoping for the best. Just get on base, get a hit, get a walk,” he said. “And when [the ball] cleared the fence, it was just incredible.”
Facing the possibility of winning the World Series, Steve says the title was never even on his radar when Davis was growing up. He just wanted his son to earn a college scholarship. Then, when Davis got drafted, Steve focused on him getting called up some day.
“He’s just beaten all the odds every place he’s stopped, so, this is just another stop along the way. And if this happens, it’s just going to be incredible,” he said.
“It’s just unreal. I still just can’t believe it’s happening.”
