In Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals rookie Vinnie Pasquantino hit his first career home run. It will go down as one of the most eventful home runs in Major League Baseball history.
Pasquantino hit a scalding line drive to the right field wall. Detroit’s Willi Castro fielded the ball and threw it to shortstop Javier Baez, who was covering second. That’s when the fun began.
VINNIE! How about that? Pasquantino's first MLB hit is a homer!
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Stream: https://t.co/85dbYSonC0#Royals pic.twitter.com/9BQS8khJBw— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) July 2, 2022
There’s a lot to unpack here.
One, imagine the range of emotions Pasquantino must have felt here. As soon as the ball was struck, he knew he had his first career base hit. That was quickly followed by the letdown of being thrown out at second base by several feet. Only, seconds later, he found out that it was a home run.
Two, while it will be completely lost, that’s a great play from Castro in right field. He fielded the ball well and threw a tremendous strike to Baez. Pasquantino may not be a fast runner but he was out by a mile. Castro deserves recognition for that, even if his play doesn’t count.
Third, Baez’s reaction at second base was a great gesture. It’s not very often that you’ll see an opposing player tell someone that he’s hit a home run.
They made the poor kid think he got thrown out at second on his first MLB homer 😂😂 https://t.co/zqWp23pGXQ
— Andrew Schnittker (@aschnitt53) July 2, 2022
#Royals Vinny Pasquantino's first MLB hit/HR, as told by #Tigers SS Javier Báez: 1) "Wait, wait; don't get off the bag yet, kid." 2) Universal HR sign as the ump calls Vinny out on the tag. 3) "Yes, keep going. You're good." pic.twitter.com/i1ztEO2FAr
— Dawn Klemish (@Sportsgal25) July 2, 2022
And they didn't even let him have a full home run trot https://t.co/DQyFl8zLjP
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) July 2, 2022
Notable to me:
Vinnie Pasquantino doesn’t get the rookie silent treatment on his first MLB hit/homer. Too much joy in the Royals dugout for that. https://t.co/Yq32ZUHbqJ pic.twitter.com/VNaDunmlAL
— Sam Dykstra (@SamDykstraMiLB) July 2, 2022
We don’t know how the rest of Pasquantino’s career will play out. But regardless of what happens going forward, he’ll always have one of the most adventurous first home runs in the long history of the sport.
