Josh Jones, 19, is a terminally ill cancer patient and a Los Angeles Dodgers fan and now he can count the Dodgers' centerfielder Matt Kemp as a friend.
A few weeks ago, the Dodgers visited San Francisco to play their archrival Giants. Jones was in attendance with his father Steve, who caught the Dodgers' third base coach Tim Wallach' attention. All the father wanted for his son was an autographed ball from Kemp. But as a YouTube video shows, Kemp decided to give Jones his hat, jersey and even his cleats, right there on the field.
"This is better than San Francisco," Jones, a Northern California resident, told MLB.com on the field in Dodger Stadium.
About 10 days ago Kemp got in contact with Jones and told him to pick out game for him to bring his family to. Kemp brought Josh, Steve and Josh's brother Ryan to the Dodgers game Monday night against the Angels. Before the game Kemp took pictures shook hands and introduced Jones to some of his ballplayer buddies.
"One of the best players in the game," Kemp said of Angels outfielder Mike Trout as he introduced him to Josh.
Later, Kemp summoned his teammate, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, after the Dodgers centerfielder Jones Josh to pick someone he wanted to meet.
Jones lives closer to AT&T Park, home of the Giants, so Kershaw asked him which park was better. Josh answered with Dodger Stadium.
Through the whole visit, Jones was in awe of Kemp's gesture.
"We didn't expect any of this," he said. "We asked Tim Wallach to come over (in San Francisco) and I expected Matt would maybe give an autograph or come say hi. We both had our mouths open. 'Wow. What's he doing?' And then to fly us down here."
Kemp is in the middle of an offensive slump, but when it comes to making a fan, who Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten called "special," baseball statistics simply do not compare.
