Finding the right song to sum up your father-daughter relationship is no easy feat — and for recent father-of-the-bride Jim Mickunas, a “dance” itself didn’t seem to fit their relationship at all. 

Jim explained on his YouTube channel, “My daughter has always found her own path. She played flag football at 6. She hated wearing dresses. She wore a tuxedo to her first communion. She lettered in soccer and track. She then became an engineer for the largest automaker in the world when she was 22. I could not imagine having a traditional father daughter dance with her. That is not what we were or are… So I came up with this. She had no idea!”

The duo started off dancing to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World,” but about 20 seconds into the song, the DJ switched it to John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” — and handed baseball gloves to the father and daughter! They indulged in a little friendly competition as they whipped the ball to each other, before Jim’s last surprise — he passed off his glove to his new son-in-law to continue the game of catch. Watch the sweet video:

—Kristen Klein