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Red Sox’ Sonny Gray proud of his son’s viral moment with fans: ‘He’s just a good kid’
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- Red Sox’ Sonny Gray proud of his son’s viral moment with fans: ‘He’s just a good kid’
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Sonny Gray isn’t one for social media these days, as he doesn’t have an Instagram account and hasn’t tweeted from his official account since 2023. It took a heads-up from his wife Jessica, then, for Gray to realize their son had gone viral.
Gray’s 11-year-old son, Gunnar, gained social media attention for all the right reasons Sunday. A clip posted on Twitter/X by user Nick Diamond showed Gunnar Gray, wearing his dad’s jersey, hand-delivering a signed hat and baseball to two young fans who were watching team workouts at JetBlue Park. The fans were along the fence that separates the part of the facility that is publicly accessible and the grounds that only players, team officials, family members and officials can roam. The younger Gray connected with the boys, then made his way down the walkway into the Red Sox clubhouse. There, he met his dad.
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“I had seen that before from him,” Sonny Gray said Monday. “I was in the training room, had thrown a bullpen and I came in. He brought me a hat and a ball and had a couple people’s autographs on it. He said, ‘Hey dad, will you sign this?’ I knew exactly what he was doing.”
The boys, who according to Diamond were Reds fans who had watched Sonny Gray pitch in Cincinnati from 2019 to 2021 , showed their appreciation with awe — and a hug for Gunnar Gray. Hours later, two proud parents in Fort Myers were among those who saw the gesture gain traction online. Sonny Gray described the moment as “heartwarming.”
“My wife showed me,” the pitcher said. “He’s just a good kid. I think he understands the access that he’s granted and the things he’s able to do being the son of a player. As he’s gotten older, he understands the benefits and the perks of that. He’s just got a good heart. Genuinely, he does.
“It’s not surprising, but was that was a nice gesture from him. It’s one of those things he will remember. I was proud to see him do something nice for someone else.”
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For Gray, the episode was just more of the same when it comes to the selflessness he has seen from his eldest son. At school back in Tennessee, Gunnar participates in the “Best Buddies” program. He has helped fans out with autographs in similar situations in the past, too.
“He likes to take care of people,” his dad said. “I think that was his way of taking care of them ... Who knows? He could change those kids’ lives forever just by doing that.”
In Gray’s first week as a member of the Red Sox, his family has been ever-present. Along with Jessica, Gray’s two sons, Gunnar, 11, and Declan, 7, have been frequent visitors to Fenway South. For the Grays, who are on their sixth team since 2017, that’s a preview of things to come.
Though the family resides in Nashville, Gray, now 36, wants his sons to be around as much as possible throughout the season. It’s something manager Alex Cora embraces in Boston’s clubhouse, too . For Gunnar Gray, who was born during his dad’s first All-Star season as a third-year player in Oakland, the clubhouse is a familiar place.
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“He’s 11. This is my 14th season,” Gray said. “He has grown up in a clubhouse his whole life.”
Gray has made a point of having his sons introduce themselves to new teammates throughout the last week. Upon arriving in Fort Myers, he sat both boys down and told them that on the first day, he expected them to introduce themselves to Cora, look the manager in the eye and shake their hand. After that meeting, Gray checked in with his new manager to see if his instructions were followed. They were, and Cora was impressed.
“Little things like that are important to me,” Gray said.
The Gray boys have been in the clubhouse after most of Boston ’s workouts so far this spring, and that’s not a coincidence, according to their father.
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“I just think this is such a good place for them to just understand life a little bit more, getting outside of their little bubble they grow up in,” Gray said. “They’re not gonna get more culture, they’re not gonna get more diversity, they’re not gonna get more structure and they’re not gonna get more learning and just how to handle themselves as a human being than what they get in environments like this.”
Gray’s father, Jesse, died in a car accident in 2004, when Sonny was just 14.
“I also know there’s a time to have them around and then there’s a time where you need some space,” he said, “but it’s important to me, especially with me losing my dad and the amount of time we are away from them during the season,” he said.
At home Sunday night, Gray didn’t go out his way to show Gunnar that he was suddenly famous on the internet. That would have been beside the point.
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“He doesn’t do it for that,” Gray said. “He just does it genuinely.”
A proud dad took note of how fitting it was that Gunnar’s moment came at the end of a day that started with emotional an all-hands Red Sox team meeting that was heavily focused on the theme of family and included a pre-taped video from his sons.
“Crazy, right?” Gray said. “They did make a video. It seems like that is the dialogue around here, very much family.
“It seems like it is all one big family environment. That was his way of bringing (those boys) into it a little bit.”
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