The 2021 World Series started off in incredible fashion. The very first at-bat of the series, featuring Atlanta Braves’ designated hitter Jorge Soler against Houston Astros’ starter Framber Valdez, saw Soler hit a third-pitch home run, on the very first strike he saw:
Jorge Soler leads off the World Series with a home run! ⚾️💣 pic.twitter.com/ToTA6NTR2r
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) October 27, 2021
The strong inning continued for the Braves after that. Freddie Freeman grounded out to second, but Ozzie Albies singled on a soft grounder to Valdez, and then stole second (almost immediately after Fox’s Joe Buck finished discussing Taco Bell’s “Steal a base, steal a taco” promotion):
Excellent timing by Fox and Joe Buck with the "Steal a base, steal a taco!" promo. 😂⚾️🌮 pic.twitter.com/xiA6q0T2Sj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 27, 2021
And Austin Riley then doubled, scoring Albies. Eddie Rosario (he of the hot NLCS bat and NLCS MVP award) then struck out and Adam Duvall then flied out to end the inning, but Soler certainly started things off on a great note for the Braves. And he made history along the way.
Jorge Soler is the first player in history to homer in the first PA of the #WorldSeries https://t.co/wI45XSjSA8 pic.twitter.com/TwlAfvbaLC
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) October 27, 2021
It’s remarkable that in the 117th World Series, we’re still seeing unprecedented things.
[MLB.com; photo from Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports]
