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84-year-old retired firefighter watches Yankees win after World Series ticket surprise
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84-year-old retired firefighter watches Yankees win after World Series ticket surprise

Joe Baal was 8 years old when he went for the first time. New York Yankees game In 1948.

76 years after that game, on Tuesday night, Baal attended his first World Series game with his daughter to watch his beloved Yankees take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the 2024 World Series.

Baal, now 84, brought good luck to the Yankees as they beat the Dodgers 11-4 at home and kept their hopes alive as the World Series continued heading into Game 5.

The Dodgers currently lead the series 3-1.

The 84-year-old lifelong Yankee fan was surprised with tickets to watch the MLB World Series for the first time.

Courtesy of Jaymie DePalo

“Yankees won,” Baal said in a video after the game shared on TikTok by daughter Jaymie DePalo.

DePalo, 36, who lives with his father in Tampa, Florida, surprised Baal with World Series tickets last week after friends, family and complete strangers stepped up to make his dream come true.

“This is miraculous to me,” said Baal, now 84.Good Morning America” When I attended a World Series game featuring the Yankees on Monday. “(My daughter) brought me to tears… I’m not crying a lot, but I just think it’s great to have this opportunity.”

DePalo told “GMA” that he and his three siblings grew up following the Yankees thanks to Baal, a New York native who worked as a firefighter for the New York City Fire Department for nearly 30 years before heading to Florida in 1991.

This year, DePalo watched the game that clinched the Yankees’ ticket to the World Series on FaceTime with his father, and he knew he had to take his father to the World Series, too.

“After I got off the phone with him, I immediately texted my sister and said, ‘We should take Pop to the game,'” DePalo told “GMA,” adding that he went online and immediately saw the high ticket prices. “I thought about what credit card I could put this on and get him there. I wanted to make sure he saw it in person. At 84, you never know how many people he’s going to see.”

Jaymie DePalo and her father, Joe Baal, outside Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.

Courtesy of Jaymie DePalo

DePalo said as he and his sister brainstormed how they could pay for tickets and travel over the next few days, he thought about all the ways his father had helped people over the years.

After retiring as a firefighter, Baal continued to mentor other firefighters, according to DePalo. When the attack occurred on September 11, 2001, Baal returned to New York for several months to help recover.

He remained involved with the FDNY for the next nearly 20 years, helping mentor firefighters, according to both Baal and DePalo.

DePalo, given how many people loved and trusted his father. post on social media about wanting to send him to a World Series game. He said he hopes a few people will at least donate to help cover the costs.

Instead, DePalo said, more donations began pouring in for his father than he could have ever imagined.

“Within two hours we had enough money to send him to buy game tickets, and it just kept going from there,” DePalo said. “We had enough money for a flight to get him here.”

Joe Baal in a World Series game on Tuesday.

Courtesy of Jaymie DePalo

DePalo last week surprised He gave his father a letter explaining that the two of them were going to pitch the fourth game of the World Series together.

DePalo signed the letter not only from himself, but also from everyone who donated money to help his father’s dream come true.

“I’m not a cry baby, but you get me,” Baal said of his reaction. “This is such an amazing gift at this point in my life… I don’t even know half the people who put money into it, and it’s amazing that they would think enough of me or Jayme or the family to do something like this for someone.”

He continued: “There are a lot of good people out there today. That’s what we have to keep looking for.”

The 84-year-old lifelong Yankee fan was surprised with tickets to watch the MLB World Series for the first time.

Courtesy of Jaymie DePalo

DePalo said he, too, sees the power of goodness in people and sees it in his father every day.

“I think I personally want to share with the world what a great man my father was,” he said. “And hopefully it will cheer some people up in tough times and see him living his dream and show that dreams don’t have an expiration date. You can be 84 years old and still have dreams come true.”