Esteban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays became the 13th pitcher to homer in his first at bat in the majors when he connected on June 4 against Bobby Jones of the New York Mets. Five of the 13, including Yan, homered on the first pitch they saw. Yan is the 77th major-leaguer to homer in his first at-bat. The 13 pitchers who homered in their first big-league AB were (* – first pitch):
YEAR PITCHER (TEAM) OPPOSING PITCHER (TEAM)
1898 Bill Duggleby (Phillies) Cy Seymour (Giants)
1929 Clise Dudley* (Dodgers) Claude Willoughby (Phillies)
1938 Bill LeFebvre* (Red Sox) Monty Stratton (White Sox)
1947 Dan Bankhead (Dodgers) Fritz Ostermueller (Pirates)
1952 Hoyt Wilhelm (Giants) Dick Hoover (Braves)
1963 Buster Narum (Orioles) Don Mossi (Tigers)
1972 Don Rose* (Angels) Diego Segui (A’s)
1974 John Montefusco (Giants) Charlie Hough (Dodgers)
1975 Jose Sosa (Astros) Danny Frisella (Padres)
1992 Dave Eiland (Padres) Bob Ojeda (Dodgers)
1992 Jim Bullinger* (Cubs) Rheal Cormier (Cardinals)
1997 Dustin Hermanson (Expos) Shane Reynolds (Astros)
2000 Esteban Yan* (Devil Rays) Bobby Jones (Mets)
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COLD DRAFT
A draft number for a major-league player is like a pedigree. The lower the number the greater the expectations of the baseball world. However, not every nugget is discovered in the first 10 rounds. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the following players were drafted in the 20th round or later yet have excelled in the majors:
PLAYER POS. DRAFT NO. YEAR
Jeff Kent 2B 20th 1989
Andy Pettitte P 22nd 1990
John Smoltz P 22nd 1985
Mark Grace 1B 24th 1985
Jorge Posada C 24th 1990
Richie Sexson LF 24th 1993
Matt Mantei P 25th 1991
Robb Nen P 32nd 1987
Mike Piazza C 62nd 1988
Note: All stats through Thursday.
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LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
When Gary Matthews Jr., made his Chicago Cubs debut on June 2, he became the sixth son of a former Cub to play for the team. Gary Matthews, Sr., played for Chicago from 1984-87. The Matthewses joined Bobby (1957-59) and Mike (1976-77) Adams, Jimmy (1890-92) and Jimmy (1926-27) Clooney, Herm (1879) and Jack (1903) Doschers, Marty (1966) and Matt (1986) Keough and Chris (1985-86) and Justin (1998) Speier.
AROUND THE HORN
Relief pitcher Danny Graves of the Reds has more home runs (1) than Will Clark (0). … Shawn Estes is the only major-league pitcher since 1987 to receive run support of 18 or more runs in a game twice in the same season. … Tim Salmon of the Angels needs 13 homers to pass Brian Downing and become that franchise’s all-time home run leader. … Paul Byrd of the Phillies isn’t the first pitcher to go from being an All-Star selection one season to pitching in the minors the next; it happened to Jason Dickson of the Angels in 1997.
