Manny Machado has earned the adoration of countless fans. You’d be hard-pressed to find one more passionate than Christian Kandell.
"He’s my best, best, best, favorite player," the 6-year-old said.
That's even more true now after the amazing series of events that played out following Christian's first up-close look at his favorite player.
His admiration began when Manny was in Baltimore, and continued when the superstar third baseman got to San Diego – as for that one stop in between...
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"I hate the Dodgers."
Christian and his dad Mat are New York natives – who now live in Naples Florida. Mat took his son to his first baseball game on March 14th, seeing Manny's Dominican Republic squad facing Israel in Miami during the World Baseball Classic.
"I had a feeling like, 'Hey, when they call Machado up for the first at-bat, let me get him on video and just get his reaction'," Mat said. "I did not expect to get what actually happened."
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The sight of Machado being introduced in the stadium moved Christian to tears.
"It was just raw emotion it was just how he felt," Mat explained. "The tears said it all, the happiness and excitement."
Which only grew when Christian watched Manny hit a home run.
Mat posted the video on TikTok. It was picked up by 'padresblogger', a fan account on Instagram. That's when the story took on new life.
"It was just something you’d never expect," the father explained.
A comment appeared on Instagram from Manny himself – asking to be connected with the boy and his father. Shortly thereafter Mat received a video message.
"Christian what’s up buddy, it’s Manny here."
Machado was sorry to have missed his young fan at the game, but told Christian he planned to send him a gift. He also extended an invitation to the Padres game in Miami on May 30th.
Once again Christian responded with tears of joy.
"To sit down and make that video and really have it tap into him is more than something we could’ve ever asked for," Mat said.
But Christian is hoping for one more gift – and it’s one Manny would love to deliver.
"Our dream is the Padres would win their first World Series since they’ve never won a World Series before."
The six-year-old plans to be at that game, and if his dream comes true, the happiest of tears are sure to follow.
"He’s super emotional in the best way possible," Mat said about his son. "More kids should be that way, more kids should feel the way that he does, and more kids should love baseball the way that he does."
