Toronto Blue Jays' Davis Schneider has always been an All-Star in the eyes of his sisters. Now, they want to make it official

CTV National News: Schneider’s rise in baseball Garrett Barry with a look at Davis Schneider career in baseball and the case being made by his sisters for him to be an MLB all star.

Madeline Schneider never actually saw the moment her little brother hit a home run during his first-ever MLB at-bat last summer.

“It was that time of day at Fenway Park when the sun makes it so you can’t really see the ball,” Schneider told CTV New Toronto in an interview alongside her sister Olivia over the weekend.

“You just heard it.”

When the announcers called the home run for Toronto Blue Jays’ Davis Schneider, the joy came rushing in.

“I blacked out,” Madeleine said. “I remember screaming so hard that I got a headache, it was just so unbelievable.”

The home run would be the first of many to come for Schneider, 25, since joining the Blue Jays’ roster last August.

Having been drafted as a 28th-round pick in 2017, he spent five years playing in the minors before he was called up. Since then, he's remained a heavy-hitter for the team and quickly obtained the status of fan favourite along the way. When the Blue Jays' new City Connect designs were released earlier this month, Schneider jerseys cracked the top sales. They were quick to sell out at the Rogers Centre Jays Shop the next day, garnering a waitlist of over 100 fans.

"It's just been really cool to see all those hours that were put in by all of us, especially my parents – driving him to all the games, my mom washing his white pants every week – to see that all come to fruition," Madeline said.

Through it all, Madeline and Olivia have been some of Davis’ biggest supporters, sharing their love for their brother – and the Jays – near-daily on social media. While it’s been “surreal” to see their brother’s athletic achievements over the last year, it’s his personality – and the way his teammates have welcomed him into their ranks – that bring them the most pride.

“There's this one Toronto Blue Jays award that he got back when he played [in the minors] that's given to somebody who's a good teammate, bestowed on them by their teammates and the coaches that I look at (it's actually hanging in our bathroom) and I'm most proud of,” Olivia explained.

“Every team that he's been on since he was a kid, he's just loved by all of his teammates,” Madeline added. “Like, he's still friends with people he played T-ball with, he's just that kind of person.”

While the last year has been "surreal" for the Schneiders, it hasn't been without challenges. Since the death of their brother, Steven Schneider, each victory still comes with a pang of grief.

“I think, as you can imagine, it’s been bittersweet,” Olivia said. “It’s the only way to describe it.”

“Even at our happiest moments, like when Davis hit the walk-off home run, or [at Fenway], there's always going to be this level of happiness, of celebration that we can't reach anymore simply because Steven's not here with us," she continued.

In the lead-up to the MLB All-Star game, Madeline and Olivia have taken their sisterly support to the next level with a full-fledged campaign topped with childhood photos to see him voted in.

“It’s a little ironic, because he hated posing for photos as a kid, but he’s great in the candid ones.”

The effort gained momentum after a colleague of Madeline’s sent out a company-wide message encouraging over 200 people to vote daily.

“Now, there’s people who have never even heard of the All-Star game or who have no interest in baseball voting for Davis, it's just been really cool,” she said.

The sisters plan on keeping it up until voting ends, on June 27.

“There’s no shortage of childhood photos,” Madeline said. “We could do this every day of the year and not run out. There are thousands."

“Today, I posted one of Steven and Davis,” Olivia added. “He would be pushing too if he were here.”

Fans can vote for the players they want to see in the MLB All-Star weekend starting line-up up to five times a day at MLB.com.

The game will take place on July 16 in Arlington, Texas.