Sunday night’s Mariners-Angels brawl was memorable in its own right, with six players and both managers ejected.
However, what happened afterward offered a pair of examples of how something good — and maybe even heart-warming — can result from less-than-ideal circumstances.
Seven-year-old Cincinnati Reds fan Abigail Courtney was at the game with her family to see two of her favorite players, ex-Reds Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez of the Mariners. But when Winker was hit by a pitch in the second inning that caused both benches to empty, he and Suarez were among those ejected.
It was a cruel reminder of what happened to Abigail just last year when she and her family traveled to San Diego to see the Reds and, in particular, Joey Votto — only to have Votto get ejected in the first inning for arguing a check swing.
But as was the case a year ago with Votto, Abigail’s story had a happy ending when Winker got word of his young fan’s disappointment and sent her an autographed baseball.
At the same time, another Winker fan half a continent away was concerned about the outfielder and wanted to find a way to cheer him up.
That’s when Sofie Dill had an idea. From her home in Arkansas, she found a local pizza place on Doordash that was just a few miles from Angel Stadium.
On the resulting Twitter thread, she provided a virtual play-by-play account of her delivery driver Simranjeet Singh’s efforts to get the pizza to Winker inside the visitors’ clubhouse.
Once Winker himself confirmed the pie had arrived, Dill made a point to show her appreciation for the successful delivery by sharing Singh’s Venmo information and encouraging Mariners fans to chip in for a tip.
According to The Athletic, the donations came pouring in, with Singh estimating Sunday night that between 300 and 400 people had already contributed.
“I still can’t explain what happened to me the last five hours,” he said. “I’m still in my dreams right now. This is a life-changing delivery for me right now. I’m really thankful to Sofie.”
So were the Mariners, who continued the chain of goodwill by offering her a Jesse Winker jersey.
So although tempers flared on the field Sunday night, a little girl ended up getting an autograph from one of her favorite players, a thoughtful fan will soon have a new jersey and a pizza delivery driver made a trip to the ballpark he’ll never forget.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jesse Winker ejected, but young fan and delivery driver have memories