A day after delivering a souvenir into Petco Park's left-center field bleachers with his homer in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series, Kyle Higashioka received a gift of his own.
The Padres catcher arrived at the clubhouse on Wednesday to find a guitar leaning against his locker. It wasn't just any guitar, though. It came courtesy of blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge, a devoted Padres fan who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Tuesday's game.
"No way," said Higashioka, whose reaction was caught on film by the club's social media team. "That is unbelievable."
Higashioka, who came to the Padres in the blockbuster Juan Soto trade in December, is an avid guitar player. He's even built a loyal following -- teammate Jackson Merrill proudly hangs a signed photo of Higashioka playing the guitar above his locker. It's the same photo Higashioka uses for his avatar on X.
Like a kid on Christmas morning, the 34-year-old veteran immediately took his new toy to a room in the clubhouse, plugged it into an amp and cranked out a riff from the blink-182 hit "All the Small Things."
Perhaps inspired, once "Higgy" put down the axe, he dropped the hammer (again) on the Braves, homering for the second consecutive night. That drive sparked the Padres' five-run second inning in their series-clinching 5-4 win, setting off a raucous Petco Park crowd -- music to his ears.