Blink 182 guitarist/vocalist Tom Delonge celebrated Wednesday night's San Diego Padres win in a unique way. He gave catcher Kyle Higashioka his actual guitar from an iconic music video.
A video surfaced on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, showing Higashioka in the locker room the day after the Padres beat the Braves 4-0. An unseen speaker told the catcher that Delonge had been at the game and had seen him hit a home run.
Delonge responded to the home run and the Padres win by leaving Higashioka his guitar from the "All the Small Things" music video.
As it turns out, Higashioka actually learned how to play the intro to this song, which he showed in another room of the Padres facility.
Tom Delonge of Blink-182 gifted Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka the guitar form the ‘All The Small Things’ music video.
Higgy homered in his first at bat tonight pic.twitter.com/3DzWqqh45F
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) October 3, 2024
Shortly after receiving the gift from Delonge, Higashioka went out and delivered a big performance. He hit another home run in his first at-bat attempt. The Padres went on to beat the Braves 5-4 while moving to 2-0 in the series.
This win propelled the Southern California team to the next round of the playoffs and a series against the Dodgers.
Delonge is a Southern California native and a diehard Padres fan. He has attended numerous games, and he has regularly discussed his love of the MLB team on his social media channels.
He even posted a video of himself on social media, one that showed him sitting in the stands at a baseball game as "All the Small Things" played over the loudspeakers.
Tom DeLonge throws out the first pitch before last night’s big @Padres win at Petco Park 👽⚾️ pic.twitter.com/qoYCzTKiTU
— blink-182 Italia (@blink182italia) October 2, 2024
This fandom led to an interesting moment for Delonge to start the month of October. He threw out the first pitch for the series-opening game between the Padres and Braves.
This set the stage for the 4-0 Padres win. One day later, Delonge's hometown team won again to sweep the series.
The longtime Blink 182/Angels and Airwaves singer was not the only high-profile personality to set up a Braves win. Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk took to the mound before Game 2 on Wednesday and threw out the first pitch.
