No player in the history of Major League Baseball had ever homered in each of his first three plate appearances. That changed Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Joshua Baez, a 23-year-old outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, went deep three times in three at-bats to lead St. Louis to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. According to Yahoo Sports, it is the first time in MLB history any player has accomplished the feat.
Baez started his career with a statement. He took the first pitch he saw and drove it 449 feet over the batter's eye in dead center field. Cardinals players pounded the dugout railing. Coaches stood with their mouths open. Baez rounded the bases smiling.
His second at-bat produced another home run. Cubs starter Matthew Boyd tried a full-count changeup, and Baez pulled it over the ivy down the left-field line. Boyd came back to face him in the sixth inning with a runner on first. Baez poked an outer-half slider into the front row in right field. Three at-bats, three homers, three different parts of the yard.
Baez grew up in Dorchester, a neighborhood about five miles south of Fenway Park. His family had moved from Boston to the Dominican Republic when he was an infant, then returned to Massachusetts roughly a decade later. He started dominating local little leagues almost immediately, winning a state home run derby for his age group at 12. He eventually joined a grassroots youth organization called the Boston Blue Jays and played 19-under baseball at age 13.
His former travel ball coach, Jamill Moquete, who is also a former minor leaguer, spoke about Baez's work ethic years before he reached the majors.
"He has dedicated blood, sweat and tears to this," Moquete said. "He literally does not take a day off. Joshua's mentality is on another level."
Reaching the big leagues from a cold-weather urban area is not common. Harsh winters and limited outdoor facilities make development harder than it is in warm-weather states like Florida, Texas, or California. Organizations like the Boston Blue Jays help bridge that gap for city kids who cannot afford high-level training or expensive travel ball circuits.
Saturday's debut gave Cardinals fans a first look at what could be a significant piece of their lineup for years to come.
