Video: Did The Throw (& Catch) of the Year Take Place in a Rogers Centre Hotel Room?

Over the years, there have been many stories of off-the-field "action" taking place in the hotel that overlooks the Rogers Centre outfield in Toronto. But this weekend, one hotel room went viral for some actual baseball activity, that was just unreal:

Did this #BlueJays fan make the catch of the year? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Gax3hPAqHf

— Toronto Star Sports (@StarSports) September 3, 2021

As reported in the Toronto Star, the catch was made by high school teacher Domenic Coccia, and it was impressive indeed. "I just stood up on the chair, put my hand out and grabbed it mid-air. It was hilarious," said Coccia, who was celebrating his birthday with some buddies in the hotel room to watch that day's Blue Jay game. 

But the throw from the field was just as impressive. According to the report, the gun of an arm belongs not to a major league ballplayer, but to the Blue Jays' mental performance coach, Jimmy Van Ostrand. 

It's not like Van Ostrand has never tossed a ball around before, however. He spent eight years in the minor leagues after being drafted in the 8th round by the Houston Astros in 2006. He even played for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Blue Jays players have long been known to throw balls up into the hotel windows during batting practice, and while warming up before games. But this was Van Ostrand's first crack at it. 

“The (Jays players) do it a lot, but to see it on video with that angle, it looked sweet,” he told The Star. 

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