'I still can't believe it': Young Yankees fan who got home-run ball in Toronto speaks on his incredible week

It has been an incredible week so far for nine-year-old Yankees fan Derek Rodriguez: he watched his favourite baseball player, Aaron Judge, hit a home run; a Blue Jays fan snagged the ball and gave it to Derek; and then Judge signed the ball in person.

"I still can't believe it," said Derek on Tuesday night, just after meeting Judge and shedding a few tears of joy. "It's so amazing."

Derek's amazing ride began on Tuesday night when he and his father, Cesar Rodriguez, came to Toronto's Rogers Centre to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the New York Yankees.

Both father and son, who live in Toronto, are big Yankees fans. Cesar Rodriguez said he first got hooked on the team in 1996 when Hall of Famer Derek Jeter became the starting shortstop.

"When I saw him play — Derek Jeter — I [said], 'Oh, my God, this is my favourite player right now, and this is going to be my team forever,'" said Rodriguez. "That's why my kid's name is Derek, because [of] Derek Jeter."

Despite his namesake, Derek's idol is Judge, who is currently considered one of baseball's best players. Derek came to the game decked out in a Judge jersey, and that caught the eye of Blue Jays fan Michael Lanzillotta, who was sitting nearby. 

"I immediately noticed this boy and his father in Yankees gear and said, 'Okay, here we go. Yankees fans are behind us," he said. 

But any animosity he felt wore off fast. In fact, when Lanzillotta learned that Derek was desperate to catch a ball during the game, he decided to help out because he knew how much that would mean to a young fan. 

When Lanzillotta was 12 years old, his grandfather held his legs so he could reach over and grab a foul ball during a Blue Jays game in the mid-'90s. 

"Growing up as a Jays fan, that's