After struggling for most of the first month of the season, Kansas City Royals‘ prospect Bobby Witt Jr. finally slugged his first home run of the year on Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
For young players, especially prospects of Witt’s caliber, the first homer is a significant achievement.
More often than not, these players like to keep the ball of their first dinger as a prized memory.
You will see some of these items being auctioned for charity if the player elects not to keep it.
However, that is, apparently, not going to happen with Witt’s first homer ball.
“Harrison Bader really had no idea it was Bobby Witt Jr.’s first career homer,” Talkin’ Baseball tweeted, with a video of the Cardinals center fielder throwing the ball into the center field fountain at Kauffman Stadium.
Harrison Bader really had no idea it was Bobby Witt Jr.’s first career homer 🤣pic.twitter.com/KVA7w48mQu
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 4, 2022
Will They Ever Find The Ball?
We don’t know what are the chances of stadium staffers and workers eventually looking for the ball, but even if they find it, it probably won’t be the only one there: how could we know for sure if it’s Witt’s first homer?
Bader could have thrown thousands of dollars to the fountain without knowing.
As for Witt, he is slowly, but surely starting to turn things around at the plate.
The transition from Triple-A to the big leagues is clearly the most difficult one in baseball: Mike Trout once felt it, Jarred Kelenic felt it last year, and Witt is definitely familiar with the dramatic leap in talent.
But after the game, he is slashing .238/.274/.363 with a .636 OPS.
He hasn’t been good, but he hasn’t been a disaster either, and he has contributed with the glove and with his legs.
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