Phillies Give Young Fan Opening Day Tickets After His Reaction To Bryce Harper Signing Goes Viral
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By Alyssa Adams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — One young Phillies super fan was invited to Opening Day after his reaction to Bryce Harper signing with the team went viral. Bill Barnett posted a video of his son Tyler's reaction to the Harper news on Twitter, and what happened next was unexpected.
The 8-year-old's reaction quickly grabbed more than 130,000 views and eventually made it back to the Phillies, who then showed it at Harper's press conference on March 2.
"We posted it on Twitter not expecting [that] response, so when the Phillies private messaged my husband on Twitter, we were shocked," Tyler's mom Lindsey said.
The team reached out to Bill on Twitter, offering them tickets to Thursday's season opener against the Atlanta Braves.
Unfortunately, Bill was unable to make the game, but Tyler, his mom, brother, and grandmother made their way to Citizens Bank Park for the game.
The Phillies gave them awesome seats along the first base line, the perfect spot for Tyler to watch Harper, and his favorite Phillie, Aaron Nola.
'Tyler Was Freaking Out': Meet 8-Year-Old In Viral Video Shown At Bryce Harper's Press Conference
"[Aaron Nola is his favorite player] because I want to be a pitcher just like him and he throws lots of strikeouts," Tyler explained.
Even though Nola is his favorite player, Tyler says it's possible for Harper to steal his "favorite player spot" over the next 13 years.
Tyler says this season he is most excited to watch Harper and see the Liberty Bell ring — lucky for Tyler, Andrew McCutchen hit a leadoff home run deep to center field to start the game.
