Dateline: Cincinnati
Watch enough baseball and you will see something that has never been done before.
On Saturday at Wrigley Field, Joshua Baez, a 23-year old, 6'3". 220 pounder broke a 75 year precedent by hitting home runs in his first three Major League at bats.
Baez was drafted in the second round of the 2021 out of Dexter High School in Brookline, Massachusetts. He hit .256 at Triple A Memphis for the St. Louis Cardinals with 22 doubles, three triples, 90 RBI and 34 home runs, including four in one game against the Nashville Sounds on June 16, the three years to the day his father, Jose Manuel, died.
"I was just feeling him the whole time," Baez told reporters after the game. "I think he guided me to be able to do that."
He will be with the Cardinals tomorrow when they start a five-game series against the Reds.
The Reds pitching staff is collecting horse shoes just in case.
"He can only go in one direction, now, down," mused closer Emilio Pagan.
"That was some debut," Reds pitcher Brady Singer, after he was informed that Baez hit three different pitches from Mathew Boyd and hit one to left, center and right field. "I will have to watch the video closely for sure"
"The law of averages are against him," Andrew Abbott said. "We're going to have to figure out ways to get him out."
The Cardinals and Cubs played an afternoon game and the word got around to clubhouses at Great American Ball Park.
The Miami Marlins gathered around the TV as Baez came up with a chance to hit four home runs in the game. He lined out to left.
It was a tribute to Baez and the love of the game that created the desire to watch the at bat.
Marlins' manager, Clayton McCullough, was asked if he watched it in his office. He had not heard the news and was genuinely surprised by it. When told how his players gathered around the TV to see it. He had this response.
"I think it is cool. I think guys understand how hard it is to get up here," McCullough said. "They understand how hard it is to perform at this level. Having a multi homer game in a debut, guys understand big moments like that. I think players around the league appreciate someone doing something that is that hard to do. We are all fans of baseball and its cool and guys are pulling for him from afar for guys able to play at this level."
There was the precedent set on September 14, 1951 when Bob Nieman hit home runs in his first two major league at bats in the same game.
The 1945 Withrow High School grad, who was also a journalism major at Kent State University. He was signed by the Reds in 1948 but was claimed on waivers byt the St. Louis Browns. He made his Major League debut for the Browns against the Boston Red Sox.
He hit a home run off Micky McDermott in the second inning. He homered again in the third inning with a runner on base. He added another single and RBI later in the game.
Nieman had a 12-year career in which he hit 125 home runs. He was teammates with the father of Reds' manager Terry Francona, Tito, in 1961 and 1962.
No comments:
Post a Comment