‘Did that just happen?’: Toronto Blue Jays fan reacts to catching Vladdy’s historic grand slam in ALDS Game 2

A Toronto Blue Jays fan reacts to catching Vladdy’s historic grand slam in Game 2 of the ALDS.

Brendan Craig initially decided to get standing room seats for Sunday’s American League Division Series (ALDS) game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre, but a spur of the moment switch up led to a moment he’d never forget.

Craig, who lives in St. Catharines, Ont., and his wife told CTV News Toronto on Monday that they chose to switch to seats in the upper deck at the very last minute.

• RECAP: Blue Jays beat Yankees 13-7 to take 2-0 lead in best-of-five AL Division Series

They said they found the seats via Facebook Marketplace, and could never have anticipated what came next.

“The person who I bought the tickets off... his pitch to sell them was it was a good spot for a Vladdy (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) bomb,” Craig said. “So, he did say that ahead of time, which is just kind of full circle moment.”

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, Guerrero Jr. smoked a pitch from the Yankees’ Will Warren up into the second deck, for the first ever grand slam in a Blue Jays post-season game.

That shot was caught by Craig mid-air, as he leapt up from where he was seated, to catch the historic moment - literally.

Craig said he blacked out when it happened, as his adrenaline and instincts took over.

“(I was) looking at the people in the rows behind me and beside, and we were kind of like, ‘No way! Did that just happen?’ And then we all kind of got in a big huddle, we’re screaming and excited,” he said.

“But I didn’t realize at the time, it was the first post-season grand slam in the Jay’s history, that just makes the moment all the more cool to be a part of.”

Craig said he had taken around 200 photographs by the time the game ended, as people were fawning over him making the catch and buying him drinks.

The electricity in the building was tense, Craig recalled.

“You could feel it,” he said. “Clement hit that early homer and that ignited the park, and then they just kept pouring it on after that. Just such a cool atmosphere.”

Craig hasn’t parted with the ball since he caught it, and confessed to carrying it with him in his pocket everywhere. But, he is open to discussing letting it go with the Blue Jays.

“If they’re interested in it, I’d be happy to talk with them and get it back. Because it’s a pretty historic ball,” Craig said.

The Toronto Blue Jays are charging ahead into Game 3 of the ALDS Tuesday night, after beating the Yankees back-to-back over the weekend. Toronto is now one win away from defeating last year’s American League winners and advancing to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) for the first time since 2016.

With files from CTV New Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras and Allison Hurst