All Things Bubba

Because how can you not love a baseball player named "Bubba"?

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Flashback: Bubba's First Homer




April 9, 2004: Chicago White Sox 9, NY Yankees 3

No Yankees game tonight, and no more Clippers games this year. So I thought I'd do a flashback to Bubba's very first game as a Yankee.

It was April 9, 2004 - a cool, cloudy day in Yankee Stadium, against the White Sox. Bubba was put in CF in the 9th, probably because the score was 9-1 and the game was out of reach. Time to put the scrubs in.

He got one grounder to field, then came to bat in the bottom of the inning against Shingo Takatsu. No outs, Matsui on 2B via a double.


Ball, strike, strike...then a pitch low and inside. Bubba dropped his bat down, and smacked the ball into the right field seats. Bubba's first at-bat as a Yankee ended in a home run.


Bubba played it cool. He ran hard out of the box, and though he later admitted he was ecstatic, he didn't smile or do much celebrating. It wasn't until Jeter greeted him at the dugout steps that Bubba finally smiled.


The crowd was going nuts, wanting a curtain call, but down 9-3 in the 9th, it didn't seem appropriate. No one pushed him up...that day.

Perhaps because it such a blowout of a game, the announcers spent a lot of time talking about Bubba, and the camera kept cutting to the dugout to show him.


Murcer, Kaat, and Kay commented that Bubba had really opened Torre's eyes in spring training, with power, great defense in the outfield, and excellent baserunning.


After the game, he said, "It's like the Lord made a little boy's dream come true today. And I'm that little boy." He said he felt like a three-year-old kid running around the bases.


Post-game interview (1.5 Mb, WMV)

And here's a video clip of Bubba's first at-bat, and the reactions after it:

First at bat (11 Mb, WMV)

posted by BubbaFan, 8:48 PM

2 Comments:


In case you didn't know, your site was down for a little while.
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, September 08, 2006 6:52 PM  
Nice pix! Thanks for posting them. And the video.

I missed Bubba's debut, and always wanted to see it. :)
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, September 08, 2006 7:16 PM  

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