Now this is one heartwarming story.
On Wednesday, during the Cleveland Indians game against the Texas Rangers, Franmil Reyes had a night to remember. Not only did Reyes slug it out on the field in Cleveland’s 7-2 victory, he also went above and beyond for a fan battling cancer.
Before his last bat of the evening, Reyes singled out Cleveland fan Jessica Atwood — who lost her mother to cancer then was diagnosed with breast cancer herself — in the crowd. Atwood’s story clearly touched Reyes, who signed a baseball for her and gave it to her with the message: “Jessica, we’re here for you. I love you.”
“He tosses this ball to my husband and my husband is, ‘okay, thanks,’ and he kind of stops,” Atwood said, according to WKYC Studios. “He’s standing there for a second and my husband looks down at the ball. I just see tears in his eyes, he hands it over to me and I just start crying. I’ve never cried at a baseball game before.”
Then, on that same at-bat, Reyes blasted a 451-foot home run and pointed to Atwood and her family in the crowd, dedicating the home run to her.
Some things are bigger than baseball.
Last night, Franmil Reyes provided an unforgettable moment to a family going through a tough period. This is #OurCLE pic.twitter.com/eDHNW1fFrz
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) August 26, 2021
Reyes later reflected on his home run and his interaction with Atwood to Bally Sports Cleveland, stating that he hoped he could do something special during that at-bat for Atwood.
“I was like, ‘this is not enough, this baseball is not enough.’ So, when I was on deck, I said ‘please God, I know it’s been tough these couple days at the plate.’ I didn’t ask for a homer, but this at-bat I wanted to do something special for Jessica.”
"This at-bat, I wanted to do something special for Jessica."
Franmil Reyes talks about his home run from Wednesday night that helped a family battling cancer. #OurCLE pic.twitter.com/5Eisim9tpB
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) August 27, 2021
"…when I threw you the ball, I came up to bat and said 'Please, God, let me hit this for Jessica.'"
Before Franmil's last at bat of the night, where he hit a home run, he threw a ball up to a woman sitting behind the dugout.
Jessica has cancer and is almost done with chemo. pic.twitter.com/ukOgsl83Zb
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) August 26, 2021
What an incredible moment for Atwood and family, and what a lovely gesture from Reyes for going above and beyond here. This is what sports is all about.
