Jason Heyward Loves Opening Day!

I was out picking up lunch when an interesting tweet was sent my way.

not sure what the record for opening day home runs is, or opening day home runs to start a career...but Heyward is 2 for 2.   any idea?

So, I raced back and started looking it up.

After smacking a solo home run to rightfield in the second inning off of Washington Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez, the Atlanta Braves outfielder became the SECOND player to ever hit home runs in his first at bat on back-to-back Opening Days.

On April 6, 2004...then-New York Mets second baseman Kaz Matsui took a Russ Ortiz offering deep to start his career.

A year later, on April 4, he sent a Paul Wilson pitch deep.

So there you have it...Jason Heyward and Kaz Matsui are the only two players in Major League history to have hit home runs in their first at bat in back-to-back Opening Days.

Game on!

The Season That Was...April

So there you have it...another season is in the books.

Prior to this year's campaign, The Hall broke down the Top Ten Milestones to Watch for in 2010 and, thankfully, there were more twists and turns than one could ever have expected.

2010 will go down as the "year of the pitcher", but the phrase became so cliche that umpire Jim Joyce seemingly took it upon himself to put it to rest. There were some stunning debuts by some much heralded rookies, a number of familiar faces decided to call it quits and Manny Ramirez moved to the Southside of Chicago.

All in all...a great season. Here's what April had to offer.

The HOVG Mid-Season Report

So here we are, folks…the All-Star break. What have we learned?

The Yankees, with their league-best 56-32 record are dominating their opponents. Home runs are making headlines night after night and big league umpires need, according to many fans…better glasses.

Now while you’re bound to come across plenty of first half re-caps, here are ten milestones (or stories) that The Hall of Very Good has found of particular interest.


Jason Heyward Hits Home Run in Major League Debut
With one swing of the bat, Atlanta Braves super rookie did something only 104 players had done prior to Opening Day 2010…ht a home run in his first at bat. Within weeks, three more players joined him…most notably was what Boston rookie Daniel Nava pulled off.


Mike Leake Skips Minors…Debuts in Reds Rotation
While most of the baseball world was applauding the debut of Jason Heyward and counting down the moments until Stephen Strasburg took the hill for the first time…Cincinnati starter Mike Leake was busy not playing in the Minors and taking his act to the pros, winning his first five starts in the process.


No-Hitters, Perfect and Notso Perfect Games
If one more person calls 2010 the “Year of the Pitcher” I’m going to vomit. So here we are…living in the Year of the Pitcher! Never before have we seen two perfect games (Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay), two no-hitters (Ubaldo Jimenez and Edwin Jackson) and whatever you call what Armando Galarraga pulled off…all before the All-Star break! I’m almost afraid to see what the second half of the season has in store for us.


Matt Stairs…Professional Hitter
My fascination with Matt Stairs started in his first season in the Minors…1989. More than 20 years and a Major League best 20 pinch hit home runs later…Stairs is still swinging for the fences. Matter of fact, he’s done so for more teams (11) than anyone else out there today.


Junior Retires
Fifth on the all-time home run list with 630 career bombs, "The Kid" was regarded as one of the game's premier players throughout the 1990s, nabbing ten straight Gold Gloves while playing with Seattle and being elected to start eleven straight All-Star Games. Quietly, he called it quits June 2 and made the 2016 Hall of Fame induction an easy day to schedule.


Stephen Strasburg Makes His Historic Debut
What can be written about Stephen Strasburg that hasn’t been written before? How about the fact that dude sold more jerseys (78,000) in June than any Washington National has in their history? Oh…a big thanks to those who have found The Hall while Googling “Stephen Strasburg shoe size”.


Home Run Milestones Aplenty!
Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Scott Rolen all reached the 300 home run plateau for their careers. Not to be outdone, Andruw Jones hit his 400th. The next big home run milestone on the docket? Alex Rodriguez is a mere three longballs from 600.


Jamie Moyer Becomes Home Run King
And speaking of home runs…did you hear the one about Jamie Moyer becoming the all-time leader in home runs by a pitcher. Last month, Moyer served up home run number 506 and later this month…he’ll get his AARP card. You know…because he’s old. ZING!


Jon Adkins Sets Save Record
Sure, it’s not a Major League milestone…but it IS a milestone. Good friend of The Hall, closer Jon Adkins became the all-time saves leader for the Cincinnati Red Triple-A affiliate Louisville Bats back in June. Unfortunately, Adkins won’t be able to add to his career total…the Reds released the pitcher on the eve of the Major League All-Star break Sunday night.


Goodbye, Old Friends
In a season full of memorable debuts…we’ve also seen our fair share of departures. In May, the baseball world lost both Ernie Harwell and Jose Lima. And right before the All-Star break, longtime Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard passed. But in what will be regarded as one of the top sports/news stories of the year…Yankees owner George Steinbrenner succumbed to a heart attack early Tuesday morning.


To put a cap on the first half of the baseball season, Gar Ryness, better known as Batting Stance Guy was at the All-Star Game in Anaheim Tuesday night and ran into “reputable reporter” Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.

Here’s their round up of the 2010 season so far.

Ten Things About Jason Heyward's First Home Run

With Day One of the 2010 Major League Baseball season in the books…pretty much everybody out there knows that one of Spring Training’s biggest stories (Atlanta’s Jason Heyward) quickly became one of the biggest stories of the new season.

With one swing of the bat, the McDonough, Georgia native became the first player to hit an Opening Day home run in his first at bat since fellow Braves outfielder Jordan Schafer did it exactly one year ago.

Here are ten things you might not have known about players hitting a home run in their first at bat.

476
According to HitTracker, Heyward’s blast went 476 feet…the longest of this young season so far. There are a few more numbers I could throw at you, but I’ll spare you. Check them out HERE…it’s pretty interesting.

104
All in all, since 1895, there have been 104 Major Leaguers who have gone deep in their first career at bat. And if you’re keeping track, 42 of them were American Leaguers and 62 called the National League home.

42
Sure, it isn’t as dramatic as doing it in your first at bat, but did you know that there have been 42 Major Leaguers to hit a home run in their LAST at bat? Okay, okay, what does this have to do with anything? Well…two (Paul Gillespie and John Miller) of these 42 also hit homers in their first at bat as well.

26
The guy who threw out the first pitch of the Atlanta-Chicago matchup was former slugger Hank Aaron. Coincidentally, the Braves legend was caught by, you guess it, Jason Heyward. Not coincidentally…it took “Hammerin’ Hank” until his 26th at bat of the 1954 season to hit his first career home run.

25
I’m not sure what is more impressive…hitting a home run in your first at bat as a Major Leaguer or hitting one on the first pitch you’ve ever seen thrown at you. Well, only 25 players have done the latter.

21
I know it isn’t fair to include Heyward in this list, but you have to. Of the 104 that have went yard in their first at bat…21 (including Heyward) never hit their second. Five of those 21 (again, including Heyward) are still active…so the list will, more than likely, decrease in the coming weeks. In case you were wondering...former third baseman Gary Gaetti leads all first at bat home run hitters in career long balls with 360.

18 years, 345 days
Just a couple weeks shy of his 19th birthday, Whitey Lockman has the honor of being the youngest to hit a home run in his first at bat. Another fun fact about Lockman…he scored the tying run, just ahead of Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” that won the National League pennant for the 1951 New York Giants. Heyward is the third youngest to homer in his first at bat...he'll turn 21 this August.

6
Sure, Heyward is only the third Atlanta Brave to go deep in his first career at bat (Jermaine Dye and Jordan Schafer were the others), but in 1955, Chuck Tanner went deep for the MILWAUKEE Braves. So how do these four guys add up to six? Well, don’t forget Joe Harrington and Johnny Bates who rounded the bases in their first at bats for the Boston Beaneaters…an early predecessor to the team that now calls Turner Field home.

3
There were two guys on base when Heyward went deep off Carlos Zambrano. Three times in Major League history, players have hit grand slams in that initial plate appearance. Who did it? Bill Duggleby was the first in 1898, Jeremy Hermida (in 2005) and Kevin Kouzmanoff (2006) were the other two.

2
Bob Nieman and Keith McDonald are the only two players in Major League history to hit home runs in their first TWO at bats. Nieman did it during the same game in 1951, but McDonald had to wait two games in 2000.

So before you go on thinking “Jason Heyward is on pace for 162 home runs this season”, consider this…the best season ever by a player who went deep in his first at bat was by former All-Star Bill White, who had 22 home runs in his rookie year of 1956.

But then again, 162 might not be out of the question if you believe any of the hype that has followed the young Braves phenom. Haha.