Wynton Bernard’s voice started cracking as soon as he heard his mom’s happy scream. The pair, connected by a FaceTime call, could hardly believe his major league dream had come true after 11 years of working and praying.
“I’m going momma. I’m going mom,” Bernard says in the video, which was shared on Twitter Friday by his new team, the Colorado Rockies.
“Well you worked hard. You deserve it,” his mom, Janet, responds.
Bernard, who hit a single, stole a base and scored a run Friday in his first game with the Rockies, spent 11 seasons in the minors before he got called up to “The Show.” During the call with his mom, he credited her with inspiring him to keep believing, noting that he often thinks about the years she spent caring for his dad.
“Bernard’s voice cracked as he recounted his mother’s unwavering diligence while caring for his father, Walter, who passed away in 2010. Bernard told himself he’d work just as hard as she had in pursuing his lifelong dream,” The Denver Post reported.
The video of Bernard’s call with his mom quickly went viral. Rockies reporter Kelsey Wingert reported Friday that the player spent around 30 minutes after Friday’s game signing autographs for new fans.
“To hear that Wynton Bernard gets called up and to see tears flowing, you know, by Wynton and his teammates, it’s just special,” said Warren Schaeffer, manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, the minor league team Bernard played for when he got the call, in a video shared by the Rockies on Twitter.
Bernard, who is 31, was drafted in 2012 in the 35th round. In the past decade, he’s played hundreds of games in almost more leagues than you can count on one hand.
He “played in the minors for Detroit, San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs along with stints in the Mexican Winter League, Venezuelan Winter League and independent ball. He also played for the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League,” The Associated Press reported.
He’s had “outstanding” numbers so far this year, the article noted.
He’s hit “.325 with 17 homers, 24 doubles and 26 stolen bases,” the AP reported.
In his interview with the Denver Post, Bernard said that “his mom, two brothers, several of their friends and a few of his best friends” were able to attend his first major league game Friday in Denver.
“There’s been a lot of times where I’ve dreamt this, and it didn’t come true. And today’s the day that it really did come true,” he said.