When Kike Hernandez was struck out by Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chris Bassitt in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series, he watched the Jumbotron at Rogers Centre to see the replay of the at bat.
It was then that he noticed Bassitt had written a “51” on the side of his hat in tribute to Hernandez’s Los Angeles Dodgers teammate, reliever Alex Vesia.
“Instead of being mad that I struck out, I was kind of going back to the dugout thinking, ‘Did Bassitt play with Vesia at some point?’ and then after the game, I saw that everybody had them,” said Hernandez on Saturday ahead of Game 7.
All four Blue Jays relievers that came out of the bullpen in Toronto’s 3-1 loss on Friday — Louis Varland, Mason Fluharty, Seranthony Dominguez and Bassitt — had written “51” on their hats.
Vesia was one of the Dodgers’ most reliable relievers this year, but before the World Series began, Los Angeles announced that he would be away from the team as he and his wife Kayla “navigate a deeply personal matter.”
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The Vesias had been documenting their pregnancy on social media and announced in April that they were expecting a baby girl.
The Dodgers had written Vesia’s jersey number on their gear earlier in the series and Hernandez was visibly moved when asked about Blue Jays relievers also honouring Vesia.
“For those guys to do that, it’s incredible. They’re trying to win a World Series, but they understand that life is bigger than baseball, and baseball’s just a game,” said Hernandez. “For them to do that with the stakes — where we’re at with the stakes, hat’s off to them, and I want them to know that we appreciate them.
“Regardless of what happens tonight, we appreciate what they did.”
L.A. manager Dave Roberts said his opponents’ gesture meant “everything.”
“It really speaks to the brotherhood of athletes, Major League baseball players, that they’ll all say that baseball is what we do, but it’s not who we are,” said Roberts. “For these guys to recognize Alex and what he and Kay have gone through, it’s — heartbreaking is not even a good enough descriptor.
“But for them to acknowledge that, it just speaks to how much respect and love they have for one another. It’s a huge, huge tribute to Alex.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider was not involved in the decision to write on the relievers’ caps, but he was proud of his players for doing it.
“We have a lot of good people, a lot of good humans in there that are husbands and fathers and all that kind of stuff, that just appreciate what we all do and the hardships that come with it,” said Schneider. “They’ve got veteran guys over there too, that all respect the game and understand how to play it.
“I think it’s a nice little tip of the cap, no pun intended.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
