Donations from Dodgers fans continue to flood in for the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto after L.A. relief pitcher Alex Vesia posted a heartbreaking update as to why he was away from the team during the World Series against the Blue Jays.
Vesia and his wife shared on Instagram Friday that their baby daughter, Sterling Sol, died just two days after the team announced he would not participate in the World Series.
Since seeing the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays in the thrilling seven-game series, fans in the U.S. began showing their generosity to their fallen rival.
While the hospital had received roughly $30,000 in donations from more than 400 U.S.-based donors on Friday, that number more than doubled after the Vesias made their emotional announcement.
As of Monday morning, donations had reached the milestone of $75Gs and, according to an update on the Dodgers subreddit, more than 1,075 baseball fans from the U.S. donated to the hospital.
Sandra Chiovitti, a spokesperson for SickKids, told the Toronto Star that many donors also 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 Vesia. During the World Series, pitchers from both the Blue Jays and Dodgers wrote Vesia’s No. 51 on their hats in tribute.
Vesia’s message on loss of daughter
“Our little angel we love you forever & you’re with us always,” Vesia and his wife, Kayla, said in a shared post on Instagram.
“Our beautiful daughter went to heaven Sunday, October 26th. There are no words to describe the pain we’re going through but we hold her in our hearts and cherish every second we had with her.”
The Dodgers said Vesia would not be on the roster for the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, citing a “deeply personal family matter.”
The Vesias extended thanks to the Dodgers and Blue Jays organizations for their support, saying “our baseball family showed up for us and we wouldn’t be able to do this without them.”
“Thank you Dodger Nation, Blue Jays organization and all baseball fans for your love and support. We have seen ALL your messages, comments and posts. It’s brought us so much comfort.”
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.