Conner Alexander’s piggy bank bounty was a bust from the beginning.
The 7-year-old Texas Rangers fan posted the now-famous offer on a homemade sign from his seat in right field during Monday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
“Hey Rangers!” it read. “Hit my brother. Win my piggy bank.”
But the offer, of course, wasn’t as lucrative as it sounds.
“He has a piggy bank, but there’s not a whole lot in it,” says Ashlee Alexander, Conner’s mom, from the family’s home in Carthage, Texas.
“Un-uh,” Conner admits when asked if he would have parted with his pennies.
Still, the sign was seen by millions on Yahoo and caused a ruckus among some readers. But all you backseat psychologists can breathe easier. Conner says he never really meant any harm for 10-year-old Hunter.
Instead, the boys hoped their ruse would get them on the ballpark’s video board and catch the eye of their favorite players, Josh Hamilton(notes) and Nelson Cruz(notes).
“We were going to put a target on my brother, but we didn’t have tape to do it,” Conner says.
Their popularity on Big League Stew and Yahoo! has prompted over 24,000 Facebook shares and dozens of calls from friends in their small town located about two hours east of Dallas. Morning television programs have also called seeking interviews.
“I guess overwhelmed would be the best way to describe it,” says their father, Billy Alexander. “It was just clean, innocent fun. They did what they set out to do, but they just got on [an even bigger] JumboTron.”
Billy, a retired firefighter who now runs his own business, and Ashlee, a special education teacher, say their boys are the best of friends. Billy balks at anyone who saw the playful prank as poor parenting.
“They just need to come to Texas and have some fun,” he says.
