WATCH ABOVE: After a picture of one of two boys from Milton, Ont. wearing a makeshift David Price jersey went viral, Price himself got involved. Catherine McDonald has the story.
TORONTO — Noah Duplessis and Jake Mallory went to the Blue Jays Game for the second time in just four days on Monday, but this time the boys from Milton, Ont. felt like celebrities.
That’s because a tweet seven-year-old Noah’s mother sent out last Friday went viral, just one day after ace pitcher David Price was traded to the team.
The boys, both big baseball fans, were going to the game last Friday with Noah’s dad, but nine-year-old Jake had nothing to wear so he asked Noah’s mom, Jennifer Duplessis, if she could help.
“I went over to Noah’s house and they gave me a jersey. I said, ‘I can’t wear this. Jose Reyes plays for the Rockies!’ And I said, ‘How ‘bout we cover up Reyes and 7 and put Price and 14,'” Jake explained outside the Rogers Centre on Monday.
Noah’s mother says she thought it was a brilliant idea.
“I went upstairs and got computer paper, folded it, got out the blue marker and the two of us went to town creating this thing and we found some hockey tape and we decided to just tape it all up,” said Duplessis.
Just before the family left for the game, Duplessis took a picture showing Jake’s makeshift Price jersey and posted it to Twitter, captioning the tweet “We’ve got some excited kids headed your way @BlueJays @davidprice14.”
Duplessis and the boys were shocked by what happened next.
“I just thought it was going to be on Twitter, like any other normal post,” said Noah.
But when the children arrived at the Rogers Centre, they caught the attention of the Jays social media team, which also tweeted a picture of Noah.
Within an hour of the game starting, Price retweeted the Jays tweet and added, “Hey kid, real jersey on me.”
Price then tweeted “#Jaysfans please find out who this kid is and or his parents Twitter handle. His price jersey will be waiting.”
The tweet had 4,800 retweets and about 6,000 favourites. Duplessis calls the viral nature of this Twitter chat insane.
Duplessis has since gotten in touch with Price who direct messaged her, asking for Noah and Jake’s sizes. He has told her the jerseys are in the mail.
Jake and Noah can’t believe that Price actually responded to their tweet, not to mention promising to send them each a jersey.
Jake calls it “a miracle” adding “it’s like Christmas.”
Jake’s mother and stepfather took the boys to the game on Monday and said the kind gesture shows what kind of guy Price, who is earning roughly $19 million this year, really is.
“For him to do that just shows his true colours and what he’s all about,” said Jake’s mother Emma.
“It’s not just about the money and the game, it’s about the actual fans and the kids that are there watching him.”
Jack Frydman, a Jays fan from Thornhill who heard about the two boys from Milton scoring jerseys from Price, called the move “classy.”
But Frydman, who was looking at buying a jersey outside the Rogers Centre today, said he’s not investing in a David Price jersey just yet.
“It would be a shame to buy a jersey, he’s gone after 2 months,” he said, calling it a gamble.
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