"I don't really remember running around the bases.....I couldn't believe I did it. It hasn't sunk in yet. I still can't believe I did it."
Those were the words of Indians rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff on Saturday night, after he hit the first pitch he ever saw in his first major league game for a grand slam home run. Kouzmanoff was called up from AAA Buffalo today after Travis Hafner was hit by a pitch last night and had to sit out.
Only two other players in major league history have hit a grand slam in their first big league at bat. Just last year, Jeremy Hemida did it for the Marlins, and then you have to go back to 1898, when the Phillies Bill Duggleby did it against the New York Giants.
Less than 100 players in history have homered in their first major league at-bat, and only 22 have homered on the first pitch ever, according to Baseball-Almanac.com. (Interestingly, seven of those 22 never hit another homer.)
Neither Hermida nor Duggleby is on this list of first-pitch homers, so if the information at Baseball Almanac is correct, by hitting a grand slam on the first pitch of his major league career, Kevin Kouzmanoff did something tonight that has never been done before in the history of major league baseball.
That's pretty cool.
Side Notes:
It's also interesting that Kouzmanoff hit the grand slam while subbing for Travis Hafner, who has already tied the major league record for grand slams in a season this year, and has a month left to try to break the record.
Since being a sixth round pick of the Indians in the 2003 amateur draft, Kouzmanoff has had a string of injuries, including back problems. This year though, he has ripped up AA and AAA pitching for a .379 average, which is tops in all of the minor leaguers for 2006. In 94 games at Akron (AA) and Buffalo (AAA) combined, he has 28 doubles, 22 homers and 74 RBI.
I remember when Jay Bell hit the first pitch of his career for a home run in September of 1986, also while playing for the Indians. What made that feat even more unique than his being only the 13th player ever to do it, was the fact that he hit it off Bert Blyleven, the pitcher for whom he had been traded just months before. Now that's the answer to a great trivia question.
Of the (now 23) players who have homered on the first pitch ever, Bell is the only one to have hit more than 100 career homers. His career total of 195 far surpasses the second place guy on the list, Bert Campaneris, who had 79 career homers.
Posted by dan at September 2, 2006 12:41 AM | TrackBack