Baseball MVP Kris Bryant and his P.E.I. connection
Shane Ross | CBC News | Posted: November 19, 2016 9:35 PM | Last Updated: November 19, 2016
Chicago Cubs star's grandfather was born in P.E.I., and his great aunt still lives here
The phone lines were buzzing on P.E.I. last week when Chicago Cubs slugger Kris Bryant was named the National League MVP.
Bryant's grandfather, George Bryant, was born in Enmore, P.E.I., and Kris Bryant still has relatives on the Island.
"They're just so happy, so proud," said Karen Parent, Bryant's aunt, on CBC's Mainstreet P.E.I.
Parent lives in Massachusetts but was in contact with her aunt, Carol, who lives on the Island after Bryant won the the award.
Both of Bryant's grandparents died before he was selected second overall in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.
Bryant has since won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2015, and was named this year's most valuable player after the Cubs won the World Series.
Parent said they would have been incredibly proud. His grandmother was his biggest fan, she said. Parent figures they were watching from heaven.
'They had the best seats in the house, Mom and Dad," she said. "He's been blessed by them."
Bryant, who is from Las Vegas, has never been to P.E.I.
But his grandfather, according to Parent, always referred to P.E.I. as "the most peaceful place on Earth."
So who knows? He's getting married in January. Maybe he'll come to P.E.I. for his honeymoon.
- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | It's all gravy for P.E.I. potato industry
- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Silent, less deadly: Methane nearly eliminated from cow farts by seaweed