No one was more surprised to see hundreds of fans lined up for an autograph Friday than the man doing the signing — Brett Lawrie.

The autograph session in the Jays Shop at Sears in the Eaton Centre may have been one of the biggest days of the 21-year-old Canadian’s baseball career.

Less than a month ago, he was in the minor leagues in Las Vegas, a can’t-miss prospect, but away from the fan adulation reserved for major-leaguers. Now, over two weeks into his Jays debut, Lawrie has been hit by the sort of fan support and media attention reserved for the big-league level. This was his first experience with just how big he has become in that short time span.

It was Lawrie-mania, complete with hundreds of fans, long lineups, wrist bands, cameras, phone cameras, teenaged girls — and even crying toddlers.

“I didn’t know how many there’d be, it’s kinda crazy,” said Lawrie, who sat and signed for an hour at the midday event Friday.

“It’s amazing to see where you’re at (career wise); in Vegas there weren’t as many fans. We did (autograph signings), but now you jump to the big leagues and there’s so many people behind you: the city of Toronto, the country, your teammates, it’s real special.”

Organizers said fans began lining up at 7 a.m. Friday for the chance to get an autograph and a glimpse of the newest Canadian baseball hero.

Those lines were long enough to prompt organizers to cut off the wrist band quota two hours later. Some 300 or more fans crammed the aisles of the department store when Lawrie appeared. A few hundred more lined up in queue down a larger aisle, and outside on Yonge St.

Justin Gonzalves, 19, of Toronto, delayed his weekend getaway to take in the Lawrie signing.

“He’s the real deal, he’s a Canadian who’s as good as anyone, we (Toronto) needed a guy like that,” Gonzalves said.

Gonzalves also had a photo taken and after showing it to two buddies who joined him Friday, he was sending the photo via texts to several more friends around town.

“My girlfriend wanted to see a picture of him,” Gonzalves said.

Among the early birds in the lineup was 15-year-old Jessica Johnson, who said she lined up before 7 a.m.

“I got up early for sure, I didn’t want to miss this,” she said.

Indeed, the vast majority of fans on hand for Lawrie’s signing were younger than the 21-year-old himself. Dozens who didn’t get wrist bands still crowded around his signing table. They pointed phone cameras and digital cameras, picking up as many still shots and as much video as they could cram into their devices’ memories.

Those who did get the wristbands had Lawrie signing everything — hats, posters, pictures, balls — even a can of dip (chewing tobacco).

“It’s amazing, and it hits home when you see people wearing a Blue Jays jersey with my name on the back,” he said. “Usually you’d see the big names like (Alex) Rodriguez, but then you see yours and it’s kinda cool.”

Lawrie was overwhelmed and appreciative of the support. He’s mentioned how he feels a whole city and country are behind him now, and as the Jays’ first great in-his-prime Canadian player since Paul Quantrill in the mid to late 1990s, Lawrie carries a built-in appeal and interest for all baseball fans north of the border.

With rock-star props in abundance, there’s a chance a player could assume they were entitled to such a lofty status. But Lawrie seemed guarded against that.

“You’ve gotta stay grounded,” Lawrie said.

“Stay grounded, always, and keep working hard to stay here. People think the work’s over when you get here but that’s when it really starts. You try to have fun and play for everyone and not yourself.”

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Indeed, he appeared touched by the level of support he was receiving.

“The fan base is big, it’s big and you meet a lot of different people and if I met the same person in line here twice I probably wouldn’t recognize them, but you get to see the support and it’s special to me,” he said.

“It’s getting bigger (lines to see him), and that’s good. (The Jays are) getting bigger and we’re going to get better, and that’s good too.”