I Dare You Not to Cry: Brett Phillips Hit a Very Special Home Run

Brett Phillips is one of those ball players that a fan base can easily fall in love with. As a career .202 hitter, he’s not the star player, but he’s a glue guy. Most importantly, the Tampa Bay Rays outfielder (and sometimes pitcher) is fun and full of energy. That’s why Chloe Grimes, an eight-year-old Rays fan, calls him her favorite player in MLB. Chloe is battling cancer for the second time in her young life, and she was at the A’s-Rays game at Tropicana Field on Tuesday to throw out the first pitch to her favorite player and deliver him some gifts.

While Chloe was being interviewed on the Bally Sports broadcast in the bottom of the third inning, and Phillips was wearing her bracelet at the plate, the Rays outfielder delivered a gift of his own, when he drilled a home run into the right field seats. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. I dare you not to cry!

If you needed something to lift your spirits this morning, that video did the trick. Check out Phillips getting choked up talking about the moment and the meeting he had with Chloe in the postgame interview:

That’s just friggin’ awesome. Here are some more tweets about the gifts that Chloe gave Phillips and a look at his reaction when he watched the interview that featured his third-inning home run:

written by

Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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