Undrafted free agent, RobertAnthony Cruz, goes viral in TikTok video shocking Dad he signed with the Nationals | WDVM25 & DCW50

(WDVM) – RobertAnthony Cruz, second baseman and shortstop for the Biola University Eagles, watched him get overtaken in the 2021 MLB draft, only to get a phone seconds later.

“About 20 seconds after the Nationals made their last choice, I got the call from Mark Baca with the Nationals asking if I would like to sign,” said Cruz.

Cruz agreed to sign with the Nationals, and the next assignment was to tell his father who was at work at the time.

“At first I just wanted to call him because I knew he was probably looking at the draft and not seeing my name called, so I thought, ‘Yeah, I should probably call him and let him know.”

Cruz decided the moment was bigger than just a phone call and decided to surprise his father at work and tell him in person.

“I went to Lids at my house, bought two Nationals hats and then I brought the hat to my father’s work and you saw the video.”

The video that was recorded by Cruz ‘mom and later posted on his TikTok and went viral.

“I had to give her a little tutorial beforehand, like, ‘OK mom, keep me in the center of the picture, make sure the little red thing is on top, make sure it’s picking up, we have a chance.’ ”

Ms. Cruz’s video of her son and husband sharing the special moment has been viewed over 14 million times.

“At first I just wanted to see how my father would react,” said Cruz. “I didn’t originally plan to share it with the world, but after getting the video I thought it was pretty special, so I decided to post it on TikTok, but I didn’t expect it to explode like this.”