It was on this date in 1982 that
Blue Jays’ outfielder Jesse Barfield became the first player in franchise
history to hit a pinch hit grand slam home run.
On a Saturday afternoon in
Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium, the Blue Jays were playing the Boston Red Sox.
Boston led 8-3 heading to the bottom of the eighth after roughing up Jays’
starting pitcher Dave Stieb for six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Shortstop Alfredo Griffin led
off the eighth win an infield single. Second baseman Damaso Garcia walked, as
did third baseman Rance Mulliniks to load the bases with nobody out. The next
better due up was outfielder Lloyd Moseby, but Boston brought in a left-handed
pitcher to face the left-handed hitting Moseby. Toronto manager Bobby Cox
countered by pinch hitting Barfield, who slugged the ball over the left-centre
field fence for a grand slam, making the score 8-7.
While the Red Sox would hang on
to win by that 8-7 score, Barfield (who had less than 40 games MLB experience
at the time) was on his way to establishing himself as an All-Star player.
Only two other Blue Jays’
players have ever accomplished the feat of a pinch hit grand slam: Tony
Fernandez on September 4, 2001 at SkyDome versus the New York Yankees (a 14-0
Toronto win), and Reed Johnson on July 1, 2005 at Fenway Park in Boston (a 15-2
Blue Jays’ victory).
Follow us on Twitter at @topofthethird
No comments:
Post a Comment