Josh Naylor's connection to Mariners fans grows even more with cleat giveaway

Josh Naylor started the season with more than 80 pairs of custom cleats. He has one less pair following Monday's game vs. the Astros.

Before the game, Naylor gave a fan a pair of his custom cleats that were made out of the Air Jordan I High OG Top 3" sneakers as a wedding present.

"I think I wore those in the first series," Naylor said.

A Mariners fan reached out to Naylor's wife that one of his friends from Canada, who is also a big Naylor fan, was getting married and having a bachelor party in Toronto this summer and hoped to meet Naylor.

Since the fan was at Monday's game, Naylor decided to autograph the shoes and wish the fan good luck on his wedding.

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"I signed a pair of cleats for him and wished him good luck in his marriage, and congratulations and all that," Naylor said. "It's just a little gesture. I think I've talked about this before, like those little acts of kindness, like you kind of change the world with it. You can make someone's day, which, if you make their day, they can make someone else's day. It's a trickle-down effect, like a pay it forward type of thing.

"I'm a big believer in making people happy, regardless of your status, your hierarchy, whatever the case is, I don't really care, to be honest. Rich or poor, if I can make you smile, maybe you can make another person smile and slowly change the world a little bit."

The fan was stunned at first and giddy as he showed off the gift. He also got a gift later in the game when Naylor hit his first two homers of the season.

"He was happy," Naylor said. "I was happy for him. Getting married, it's a super cool thing. To make his day, I think that was awesome. And then to do what I was able to do on the field in front of him, I think that's super cool to give him that experience as well. I'll try to do that every night, hopefully."

Naylor did give out several pairs of his cleats during the Mariners postseason run. His shoe and jersey collection has become part of what makes him popular with fans, particularly Mariners fans. He felt that love when he was struggling to start the season. Naylor came into Monday's game batting .102 (6-for-59) with no extra base hits, six walks and 11 strikeouts.

"It was maybe a few days ago, I hit a line drive and got out, and I was like 0-for-3 so far on the day," he said. "I heard some fan yell, and really, I try to block out a lot of things said on the field, but I heard some fan yell: 'Keep your head up! You're good! You're the best!' And it's like, 'Damn, thank you.' I appreciate that. I'm not the best right now. But I do appreciate that.

"This fan base is so awesome. They're just through it with you, through the whole entire season, the ups and the downs, and you know when you're up, it's even better, because this place is electric. You can feel like the energy in the ground go through your body. It's so cool. They're so loud, enthusiastic and supportive. You can't not love Seattle fans. They're the best.

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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 6:42 AM.