Home run ball creates heartwarming moment between grandfather, grandson

For someone who spent nine years as a college basketball coach and 27 years as a school superintendent, Bruce Carrier makes a heck of a play-by-play announcer.

Maybe it helps that the game he is recounting featured Felix Carrier-Damon, one of his nine “wonderful, awesome” grandkids.

The game happened July 30. It was memorable because it marked the end of 9-year-old Felix’s first year playing baseball.

Felix hit two home runs during the game, his first since the season started. It’s those games that his grandfather can describe so vividly.

“The first one wasn’t over the fence, of course, but it went down the left field line and kept rolling, rolling, rolling, and his short little legs were taking him around the bases,” Carrier said. “The grand slam he hit down the right field line, and he just kept running all around the bases. It was a pretty impressive day for him. I was just so happy for him.”

It’s what happened after the game that really will be etched in the memories of the Carrier-Damon family, Bruce and Deborah Carrier, their family and friends, and literally hundreds of thousands of total strangers who have watched the video Felix’s mom, Melissa Carrier-Damon, posted on her Instagram page.

Because after the game, Felix signed both baseballs with his name. On one, he wrote “best feeling ever.” On the second ball, Felix carefully printed “Papa I love you.”

Then, he presented it to his grandfather, while his mother stood nearby, filming the moment while the two let their emotions show with tears and hugs.

 

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Since Carrier-Damon posted the video on her Instagram account, it has been shared by the New York Post, on ESPN’s Facebook page, “CBS Mornings” on its Talk of the Table segment and Hoda’s Morning Boost on NBC’s “Today” show.

“CBS Mornings” host Nate Burleson introduced the segment saying, “This is one of the best videos I have ever seen.”

ABC News also plans to run the video, and NBC’s nightly news show wants to interview Carrier and Felix.

And the comments keep pouring in, almost all positive and many sharing stories of important relationships in their own lives.

“It’s kind of humbling, and I never knew what something like this could do for the world,” Carrier-Damon said. “That’s what it has turned into, a thing that could go a long way and bring positivity into the world when we need it. I didn’t grasp what we could do.”

Carrier-Damon isn’t unfamiliar with social media. In addition to Facebook and her Instagram account, she has a blog, Rainbow Palates, that brings positive interaction to family mealtimes. Carrier-Damon and her husband, Nicholas Carrier-Damon, also are the parents of Oliver, 11, and Isla, 5.

On Instagram, Melissa Carrier-Damon’s video has been liked more than 339,000 times with more than 7,250 comments.

Carrier was summoned into the garage of his Sioux Falls home, taken away from the baseball game he had been watching in his stocking feet. Focused on Felix, he didn’t see his daughter discreetly filming.

“You know I got two home runs, right?” Felix begins. Holding up two fingers, his grandfather says proudly, “You got two jacks!”

Felix tells his grandfather “I signed it for you,” but Carrier, not understanding, asks “Is it dated?” and then offers to put the date on it.

“And it says, ‘Papa, I love you,” Felix perseveres. “Why did you do that?” Carrier asks, his voice quavering.

“Because you taught me everything about baseball,” Felix says, as they share a hug and tears.

“A lot of emotion comes out,” Carrier said, recalling that moment. But why it has drawn such attention is a bit of a puzzle.

“I’m amazed, to be quite honest with you,” he said. “To me, what’s the big deal — it’s simple, raw, realistic emotion about a grandson and his papa sharing a special time in his life. It was the greatest day, and he was able to share it with me.”

Bruce and Deborah Carrier have spent much of the summer at ball fields since Oliver also plays baseball. He has driven his grandsons to practice and never hesitates to play catch when invited to join a backyard practice, joining his son-in-law as cheerleaders and unofficial coaches.

Sports was an important part of Carrier’s life. He spent four years as a teacher-coach, including one year at Roslyn where he met his future wife. He then coached basketball at the now-closed Huron College for nine years before following his first passion, serving as a school administrator. Carrier spent four years at Dupree, 17 years leading the Lyman County School District and his final six at Winner. He retired five years ago, and the Carriers moved to Sioux Falls.

Felix played on the team sponsored by Boss’ Pizza & Chicken and coached by its owner, Jeremy Seefeldt. From that first season, Felix has learned patience and hard work pays off, Carrier-Damon said.

“He really grew a lot this season and worked hard,” she said. “He might have had some games that didn’t go the way he wanted them to, and they lost by a lot of points, but he never got down. He just loved playing.”

The Carrier-Damons have shared with Felix some of the social media furor around the video, but they don’t think he realizes the impact it has made.

“What I’ve been trying to do is show him how positive this was and how special it is,” Carrier-Damon said. “I don’t think he quite grasps it. He’s being a 9-year-old.”

Carrier has placed the baseball on a special shelf in his home, where he keeps memorabilia from his coaching days. But he has little time to focus on the social media aspect either. His three Washington, D.C.-based grandchildren are spending three weeks in Sioux Falls with their grandparents, and he has Papa responsibilities that come first.