Leadoff home runs are pretty rare, and that was illustrated with the one San Francisco Giants’ center fielder Denard Span hit Saturday. It turns out that it was the first leadoff home run a Giants’ player had hit in their history in San Francisco. Here’s a look at it:
Denard Span leads off with an inside-the-park home run 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SlAQmwNkgB
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) August 20, 2017
As per the Elias Sports Bureau, Span’s leadoff home run was the first by a Giant since 1945, when they were still in New York:
Denard Span: Giants’ first leadoff inside-the-park home run since Johnny Rucker hit one June 20, 1945 (via @EliasSports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 20, 2017
That’s pretty remarkable. But it makes some sense that Span would hit it, as he has a good amount of speed and power. He hit 11 home runs last year for the Giants (his first double-digit total in his career), and has eight so far this season. He’s also reasonably quick on the basepaths, stealing 12 bases last season and eight so far this year. And he definitely got some help from the AT&T Park wall and the bounce this ball took, which confused the Phillies’ outfielders. But Span was impressive here too, first hitting this ball hard and then flying around the bases, even losing his helmet in the process. And he made some Giants’ history along the way.
[Baseball Bros on Twitter]
