Mini Joey Bats was back at Rogers Centre talking Blue Jays and bat flips before ALCS Game 3
Meet Oscar Wood, aka, Mini Joey Bats
Oscar Wood figured his painted-on beard and cool imitation of his favorite Blue Jays player swinging the bat would garner a little bit of attention from family and friends when they got a hold of it on Instagram.
"Maybe five to 10 likes," Wood estimated.
Nope. Not in today's day and age, where the ability to send something into the social media stratosphere with the tap of a finger can turn a private family memory into a viral sensation.
On Instagram, Wood said, the video received "like 4.5 million likes. It's crazy."
You've probably caught wind of Wood by now. He's the adorable 9-year-old Blue Jays fan whose mother paints a Jose Bautista beard on his face before the family heads to Rogers Centre for Blue Jays games.
The family was at Game 5 of the American League Division Series -- yes, that game -- where Bautista hit one of the most dramatic home runs in franchise history, rivaled only by, of course, Joe Carter's walk-off shot in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series.
Just as Bautista was swinging, Wood also took his best hack [sans bat], from his seats far from home plate. The simultaneous nature of the swings, combined with how dramatic that moment was, and the overall charm and cuteness of a kid we now just refer to as "Mini Joey Bats," catapulted this video into cult status.
"I've had to check my phone a few more times than usual," said Ben Wood, Oscar's dad. "It's been buzzing, buzzing. It's been fantastic. Completely unexpected. And it's more than welcome -- he's been having a fun time with it."
The family attends around 30 Blue Jays games a year. Earlier this year, they traveled to Florida for Spring Training, where Oscar met Bautista.
As to why Bautista is Oscar's favorite player, the reasons are pretty simple.
"I like that he hits the ball really well and he's got a really good arm," he said. "He's made a couple really, really cool catches this year. He's really good."