 |
| Manny Machado has made a quick impact to an Orioles team that seems like it's on its way to the Postseason. (Credit: AP Photo) |
The 2012 Major League Baseball season has been littered with fanatical play from the young guns of the league. Mike Trout is on his way in my estimation to a Rookie of the Year Award and a Most Valuable Player Award and since he's been with the Angels, the ball club has been deadlocked in the AL West and Wild Card races; Yoenis Cespedes has sparked life into an Oakland Athletics ball club that is currently .5 games out of the two Wild Card slots; the much-touted Bryce Harper is doing things that no 19-year old should be doing at the Major League level; Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks is pitching not just like the best rookie pitcher in baseball, but one of the best pitchers in baseball, too; and to a much lesser extent, the names go on and on, from Will Middlebrooks to Anthony Rizzo, from Zack Cozart to Todd Frazier, this might be known as "The Year of the Rookie" when it's all said and done.
Apparently though, we aren't through just yet. Two nights ago, Orioles IF prospect Manny Machado was called up from the AA Bowie Baysox. The Orioles' production in terms of runs is less than stellar, 19th in MLB and 10th in the American League. So they needed a boost, so they figured they would call up their big time prospect to assist them in their push for the MLB Postseason, a plateau that has not been reached in Charm City since 1997. Let's just say that Machado has already found a way to make an impact at the Major League level. Last night, Machado went 2-for-4, with those two hits being home runs, with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. At the surface, that's one heck of a night for a ball player. THe home runs were far from cheap shots either. As evident in this video:
Apparently though, we aren't through just yet. Two nights ago, Orioles IF prospect Manny Machado was called up from the AA Bowie Baysox. The Orioles' production in terms of runs is less than stellar, 19th in MLB and 10th in the American League. So they needed a boost, so they figured they would call up their big time prospect to assist them in their push for the MLB Postseason, a plateau that has not been reached in Charm City since 1997. Let's just say that Machado has already found a way to make an impact at the Major League level. Last night, Machado went 2-for-4, with those two hits being home runs, with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. At the surface, that's one heck of a night for a ball player. THe home runs were far from cheap shots either. As evident in this video:
(H/T MLB Advanced Media)
The funny thing actually is that these home runs went to the same person in the stands. The luck that you have to pull that sort of thing off is astronomical. That wasn't the story of the night either, though.
That statline by Machado? It's never been done before by a player of Machado's age.
According to Elias Sports Bureau Manny Machado is the youngest player in the history of baseball to have a multi-HR game, at the age of 20 years and 35 days. That age is just 61 days younger than another dazzling ball player with the first name of Manny. His last name is Ramirez, and you may have heard of him before.
Of course with making MLB history, Machado also made Oriole franchise history. The youngest Oriole to ever have a multi-HR game also once held the MLB record, before Manny Ramirez broke it in 1993. Curt Blefary set the record in 1965 for the Orioles taking the record away at the time from Bert Campaneris of the Oakland A's a year earlier, at the age of 21 years and 286 days. This all happened on Machado's second night in the big leagues.
Roll on, "Year of the Rookie." You've been a memorable one, and I personally could use a little more of you for the next couple of weeks. And maybe in October, too, if you're nice enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment