Home Run in First At-Bat
Being a rookie is hard, and nothing is harder than the very first at bat. Coming up to the plate against your first major league pitcher, you hear the cheers at home or the boos on the road, but most of all you just hear the word in your head: "make it worth it." How many rookies have come up to bat their first time only to head back to the dugout with a lifetime .000 average? Countless. How many have gone to the plate with doubt in their minds, only to return there four bases later with a perfect career average?
Ninety-five.
Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron didn't do it, but Hall of Fame Pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm did. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Barry Bonds, arguably the game's greatest sluggers didn't either, but virtual unknowns Ace Parker, Dan Bankhead, and Cuno Barragan did. How does someone hit a home run in his first major league at bat? Is it talent? Poise? Or just beginner's luck? Whatever it is, these men had it.
Consider the numbers. Twenty-two of these rookies didn't even have to wait until the second pitch, they hit their dingers on the first major league pitch they ever saw. Nineteen never hit another major league home run. Only three men hit their home runs with the bases loaded: Bill Duggleby in April 1898, Jeremy Hermida one-hundred seven years later in August 2005 then Kevin Kouzmanoff in September 2006. These rookies stepped up and made themselves memorable, and now, Baseball Almanac is proud to present these fabulous first timers with their fabulous feats.
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Hoyt Wilhelm, a future National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, hit a home run during his first at-bat then had a twenty-one year career without hitting one more long ball. Too easy? Did you know that both Ernie Koy (Brooklyn) and Heinie Mueller (Philadelphia) hit their home runs on the same exact date in the same game and it just happened to be on Opening Day?
On April 21, 1898, Bill Duggleby became the first player on this page whose home run was a grand slam. On June 25, 1968, Bobby Bonds hit a grand slam during his first Major League game (like Duggleby), but it was during his third at-bat. In 2005 Duggleby's record was finally (107 years later) tied by Marlins prospect Jeremy Hermida and in 2006 Kevin Kouzmanoff took it one step further when he became the first player ever whose first home run was a grand slam which was hit with the first major league pitch he ever saw!
Bob Nieman, who accomplished the feat on September 14, 1951, and Keith McDonald, who accomplished the feat on July 4, 2000, are the only players in major league history to hit another home run during their second consecutive at-bat — Nieman did it during the same game & McDonald did it during his next game played on July 6, 2000.
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