Updated: May 30 at 7:15 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — He went viral on Tuesday night when he was caught on camera in a critical moment during the Phillies game mimicking the wind-up and delivery of Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado.
Then, it was a dream come true. Before Friday night's game against Arizona, 12-year-old Princeton "Prince" Bailey, alongside his family, got the chance to meet Alvarado during batting practice.
Alvarado spoke with everyone and presented Prince with some Phillies swag.
"It was something amazing and really surprising to see that little kid, you know, just doing like I was in the game, and it's just something super exciting to watch after the game,” said Alvarado through an interpreter.
Prince's grandfather, Troy Bailey, said he brought Prince to the game for his birthday. He said there’s been a lot of positive feedback from the video.
"We take away the joy he can bring to people, you know what I mean? … It was all the comments we've seen online, it brought tears to our eyes because I mean he's a shy guy, you know what I mean, and I want him to develop, we know how to talk and overcome that, and I think this is a perfect opportunity to do that,” he said.
Troy says Prince, who is on the Autism spectrum, loves to imitate players. The only difference this time was that it was caught on the big screen.
"He just loves baseball. I think he's seen the Super Bowl 50 times, he watches baseball all the time. All he does is mimic the players that he sees,” he said. “That's all he does, and he's getting good at it. He's getting good at it."
Prince said that night, he was simply just trying to give Alvarado an assist.
"I did not know that they recognized me, but I still had a good time meeting Philly fans," he said.