Mariners' Cal Raleigh visits classroom that went viral celebrating his wild-card home run
During the American League Wild Card round a video of a Seattle classroom went viral celebrating Cal Raleigh's first-inning home run to give the Mariners an early lead in their 4-0 win.
The students in Tim Rooney's fifth-grade classroom were seen running around the room cheering, and chanting Raleigh's nickname -- "Big Dumper" -- in celebration. It caught the attention of Raleigh and the Mariners.
Raleigh loved it so much, he took it upon himself to go visit Rooney's classroom and spend time with the kids, signing autographs and answering questions, via TMZ.
This was the video that caught Raleigh's attention.
Raleigh became a star for the Mariners this season and helped end their two-decade-long playoff drought by hitting the walk-off home run that punched their ticket to the playoffs.
Seattle ended up sweeping Toronto in the two-game Wild Card series before ultimately losing to the Houston Astros in the ALDS.
The 25-year-old Raleigh hit 27 home runs in 119 games for the Mariners.
He went 5-for-22 in the playoffs with a home run and four RBIs in the Mariners' five playoff games.
More must-reads: