Some dreams, no matter how hard we wish for them to come true, just never seem to happen. But when they eventually do become reality, the feeling is unmatched, and it creates the most beautiful memories that will stay with us forever.
One such dream recently came true for this 84-year-old diehard Yankees fan. The man who never got a chance to see his favorite team play in the World Series live could hardly hold back tears after realizing that his daughter just got tickets for the both of them. Scroll down to read the full story!
More info: TikTok
Some dreams don’t come true for the longest time, only to blow us away when we least expect them
Image credits: adorabaal
This 84-year-old retired New York City Fire Department worker dreamt his whole life of attending a Yankees World Series game, but never had a chance to do so
84-year-old Joe Baal has been a Yankees fan his whole life. He saw his very first game when he was just 8, which, incidentally, was also New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth’s last appearance on the baseball field. But no matter what, he never got to see them play in the World Series live.
“My dad had always dreamed of seeing a World Series game, but it was just never in the cards for him – whether it was financially, the inability to travel, or the Yankees not being in the World Series,” shared the man’s daughter, Jaymie Baal DePalo, in an interview with People.
Image credits: adorabaal
When the team clinched a spot in this year’s World Series, the man’s daughter knew she had to get tickets for him
Nevertheless, Joe made sure to raise his 4 children just like he was raised himself, making them Yankees fans for life. That’s why, when his daughter found out that the team had clinched a spot in the World Series, she knew she had to get tickets.
Of course, that wasn’t as easy of a thing as it may sound, because tickets to such a game are anything but cheap. According to Alex Andrejev of the New York Times, the average price for attending game 4 alone was around $1,600. And that’s not counting travel and accommodation costs.
She couldn’t afford them herself, so she told her dad’s story online and asked for people’s help, who delivered almost immediately
Fortunately, Jaymie never knew how to take ‘no’ for an answer. Even though she couldn’t afford this trip herself, she decided to ask for the help of her friends, family, and followers by sharing all of this online. “By the end of the day, I had enough for his flights and even a few hot dogs if he wanted them. It was surreal!”
It was clear that people understood the importance of making Joe’s dream a reality. After all, he’s not only a great dad and a hardcore Yankees fan, but also a retired New York City Fire Department grief counselor and a worker who risked his life to help during 9/11, which is most likely what gave him pulmonary fibrosis.
The man not only had his dream come true of watching a Yankees World Series game live, but he also witnessed them win, which made the whole experience perfect
When the woman finally told her dad what she did through the most heartfelt letter, the man got very emotional and could hardly contain his tears. When this wholesomely beautiful moment ended up on Jaymie’s TikTok, it quickly went viral, reaching nearly 324,000 views and more than 51,500 likes in a week.
Of course, for the father and daughter of this story, the most memorable moments were those that came after. Jaymie shared that the whole trip, especially the game, “will live with me for the rest of my life.”
However, what made her the happiest was that she got a chance to make her dad’s dreams come true. After all, he may not have that many Yankees World Series games left in his lifetime.
While, according to Jack Baer of Yahoo, the Yankees managed to crush the Los Angeles Dodgers in game 4, this ended up being their only win in the series. After a great start in game 5, they fell short in the end, finishing it 7-6 and losing the matchup.
Still, the team is not doing bad. But perhaps it could do better. As per Alex Kennedy of ESPN, in their existence, the New York Yankees have won 27 championships, which is more than twice as much as any other team. However, their last victory was in 2009, making it 15 years since they last won a title.
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Summarizing, in this series, the only game that the Yankees did win was the one that Joe attended. Thus, we could theorize that he was a lucky charm, and they needed him to be present to win it all.
While we seemingly made this deduction a little too late to help the team this time around, hopefully, they will learn from their mistakes and will invite their biggest fan to every game from the next season on. Because if anyone deserves a lifelong ticket, it’s Joe Baal.
What did you think about this story? What’s your biggest dream? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
The commenters were very happy about this story, and even those who disliked the Yankees cheered for the man
