You may never truly know the impact you have on someone. All you can do is go about things the right way, treat people the way you’d like to be treated and the rest is history.
For Jimmy Rollins, he came back to Philadelphia to be honored by the fans he knew were always there, but he learned about one he never knew he had.
Meet Seito, a lifelong fan of Jimmy Rollins.
According to Reddit, Seito met Rollins in 2002 in Tokyo when he was nine years old, as you can see in the photo he’s holding up. He came to Rollins’ retirement night to have a reunion with his idol, and at long last, got what he was hoping for.
As the post explains, Seito held his sign up before the game and had no luck in reaching Rollins, but what happened next was awesome and shows the power of the Internet.
After a plea online for anyone who may have connections to Rollins and a trip to guest services, Bonnie Clark, vice president of communications with the Phillies — who Rollins thanked very early on in his speech — greeted Seito and set up the reunion in the suite Rollins and his family were enjoying the game from.
MLB
The video is heartwarming.
The way Rollins takes time to look back at the photo and surely reminisce about the past 17 years, and what’s even more awesome is the reaction from Rollins’ family as he explains the context of the photo.
Rollins also posted about the encounter on his Instagram.
Forget the highlight video and the from-the-heart speech; this is what Saturday night was all about. The connections that fans have with their heroes and the genuine moment we were all fortunate to have been able to see.
Thanks J-Roll and Seito for showing us how many miles and how many years the game of baseball can impact.
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