As 103-year-old Kitty Cohen made her way around the Rogers Centre bases on Saturday morning with Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, Jay Stenhouse, the club’s vice president of communications, quipped: “We’re going to need some oxygen.”
Before adding with a sly smile: “For Gibby.”
This past spring, Cohen, who lives in a Toronto nursing home, sent a letter to the Blue Jays asking if, for her birthday, Gibbons could walk her around the bases prior to a Jays game. Gibbons fulfilled that wish on Saturday.
As Cohen made her way around the base paths waving a pink feather boa, fans, players and members of her family — some who travelled from as far away as Switzerland, Colombia and British Columbia for the big day — applauded when she crossed home plate.