After spending a tense, seven-game series as bitter rivals, Los Angeles Dodgers fans opened their hearts – and their wallets – to Toronto.
After watching their star-studded Dodgers capture a thrilling win in Game 7 of the World Series over the Blue Jays, fans of the back-to-back champs showed their generosity to their fallen rival.
Since the final out at Rogers Centre on Saturday night, Dodgers fans have donated more than $30,000 to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
The hospital told the Toronto Star that it has received more than 400 contributions from U.S.-based donors, each with a personalized message involving the Blue Jays or baseball, according to Sandra Chiovitti, a spokesperson for SickKids.
Chiovitti also revealed that 20 of the donors opted to sign up for monthly contributions.
“I was obviously very happy that the Dodgers had won, but I’ve suffered a lot of sports heartbreak in my life, too, and can recognize that this was a devastating loss for the Blue Jays and their fan base,” donor Helen Cumberbatch told the Star. “I hope this becomes a lasting tradition.”
The idea took off on the Dodgers’ Reddit page after the team’s Game 7 win and was inspired in part by a similar outpouring of charity made by Jays fans to Seattle Children’s Hospital after the ALCS.
Many donors opted for a donation of $51 in a tribute to Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia, who missed the World Series while taking leave from the team as he and his wife Kayla dealt with a “deeply personal family matter.”
During the World Series, pitchers from both the Blue Jays and Dodgers wrote Vesia’s No. 51 on their hats in tribute.
Have there been donations to rivals before?
This isn’t the first time in recent years that we’ve seen fans put aside their team’s rivalries for a good cause.
Earlier this year, Buffalo Bills fans donated more than $70,000 to a charity supported by Ravens star Mark Andrews after the Baltimore tight end dropped a crucial pass during a playoff game.
While Andrews reportedly received death threats at the time, Bills Mafia started a GoFundMe to raise money for Breakthrough T1D, a nonprofit dedicated to research and advocacy work related to Type 1 diabetes – which Andrews suffers from.
Bills Mafia previously had made large donations to the charity of Bengals QB Andy Dalton in 2017, after a Cincinnati win put the Bills into the playoffs for the first time in 18 years.
They also made donations to charities supported by opposing quarterbacks Lamar Jackson of the Ravens and Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins after they suffered concussions in games against the Bills.