Davis Schneider blasted the most important home run of his life on Wednesday night, taking the first pitch he saw from Blake Snell over the left-field fence for a leadoff ambush to start Game 5. Vladimir Guerrero would follow suit with a homer of his own, allowing Toronto to enjoy a 2-0 lead before most fans had settled into their seats. The Blue Jays then cruised to a 6-1 victory as Trey Yesavage confounded the L.A. offense and Canada is one victory away from bringing the World Series trophy north of the border as the series shifts back to Toronto.
Schneider's long ball could very swell prove to be the moment the Blue Jays finally wrestled away control and overcame Shohei Ohtani's ridiculous one-man show. And if that happens, the highlight will have a helpful second angle thanks to Schneider's dad, who chose to record his son's first plate appearance even though Fox and other international broadcast rights partners also had cameras on the game.
But it's a good thing he did because the elder Schneider's reaction could not have been more pure. He also classily edited his language so the official account of Major League Baseball could share the clip more widely on its large platform.
This is exactly the type of thing one would expect from someone whose handle is "bballdadd44745." Years and years of doing GameChanger hones a baseball dad into a machine when their kid is at the plate, you can rest assured that the at-bat will be chronicled for internal use. And credit to pops for keeping it together as well as he did. There are tons of other dads out there who have larger reactions to a play in the third inning of an 11U game.
How can you not be romantic about baseball?