Rays recall their first big-league home runs

ST. PETERSBURG —You always remember your first, right?

Especially in the case of Rene Pinto, whose first hit in the major leagues was a home run, making for a lifetime memory.

He joined some interesting names, from Delmon Young to Wander Franco — and Elijah Dukes to Yoshi Tsutsugo — as Rays position players to do so. Pinto also became the second American League catcher — and 11th player — in history to homer in his debut coming off the bench.

We asked other Rays players and coaches what they remember about their first big-league home run. Here are some of the more interesting answers:

Brett Phillips

July 16, 2017, for Brewers vs. Phillies, off Jeremy Hellickson

In the third game of his second stint in the majors, Phillips — not thinking through the National League game style — decided on his own around the fourth inning to head from the dugout to the batting cage to get loose.

Which was fine until the Brewers decided to pinch-hit for starter Matt Garza in the fifth. “I’m in the cage messing around, and I hear someone come panicky running and then yelling, ‘Phillips, you’re up to bat!,’” he said. “I literally come running down the tunnel, grabbed my stuff, I’m walking out right into the batters’ box — I wasn’t even on deck.”

With bench coach Pat Murphy screaming, “Where the heck were you?” Phillips blasted the second pitch over the right-centerfield fence for a two-run shot to put the Brewers ahead. The crowd of 41,727 gave him a huge ovation when he got back to the dugout. Murphy, Phillips said, gave him an earful: “He grabs me by my shirt and says, ‘If we can’t find you ever again, you’re going back down to Triple-A.’ He was dead serious.”

Chad Mottola, hitting coach

June 5, 1996, for Reds vs. Giants, off Mark Gardner

“A fastball up to leftfield that barely cleared the fence, so they were able to get the ball back with no problems,” Mottola said. “That was all part of the plan to not hit a towering homer where they had to work to get it. What’s sad is I thought there were going to be many more. I (eventually) lost the ball, but it was one of those things that I was going to hit 500 more, so why do I need this one?” He hit only three more in the majors.

Ji-Man Choi

July 18, 2016, for Angels vs. Rangers, off A.J. Griffin

Harold Ramirez

May 21, 2019, for Marlins at Tigers, off Spencer Turnbull

The homers were memorable, but for both the reaction was priceless — the silent treatment from their teammates. With Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and the rest of the Angels ignoring him, Choi created a solo celebration going through the dugout doing “high-fives, low-fives, kick-fives — everything.” Ramirez did the same air-fives in the Marlins dugout, but after the game got a shoutout — and then a beer shower.

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Randy Arozarena

September 25, 2019, for Cardinals at Diamondbacks, off Merrill Kelly

Those who appreciate Arozarena’s simple approach to hitting — all he usually wants to know is the velocity of the pitcher’s fastball — won’t be at all surprised that he didn’t recall the specifics. But, having fled Cuba and worked his way to the majors, he definitely remembers the feeling, shared via assistant hitting coach Brady North: “I felt really happy, really excited. It was like I was on top of the world — I had just hit a home run in the big leagues. So it was a very big moment in my life.”

Kevin Kiermaier

May 18, 2014, for Rays at Angels, off Mike Morin

“It was my third start. We were down by five and I did it in the seventh, a solo homer. So I was happy and rounded the bases like, ‘Holy crap, I just hit a major league home run.’ … If it would have been at home and if we would have had a lead we would have celebrated more, but when I got back to the dugout it was like a, ‘Hey good job, we’re still down four in the seventh,’ type of thing. I was happy, but I wasn’t thrilled like on cloud 9 the way I thought I was going to be. After the game, I got a ton of texts. That’s when it really sunk in.”

Wander Franco

June 22, 2021, for Rays vs. Red Sox, off Eduardo Rodriguez

There was plenty of hype for the debut of Franco, the 20-year-old who had been ranked the game’s top prospect for two years. After a walk and a fly out in that first game, Franco showed why, launching a three-run homer that set off the frenzied Tropicana Field crowd, including his extremely excited father. “I remember,” Franco said.

Mike Zunino

June 14, 2013, for Mariners at A’s, off Tommy Milone

Brandon Lowe

August 28, 2018, for Rays at Braves, off Julio Teheran

What these Rays remember most is that they almost didn’t have homers. Zunino was nearly robbed by Oakland’s Coco Crisp: “He made a stab at it, and I wasn’t sure until he came down and didn’t have it. I wish it was more of a no-doubter like Rene’s so I wasn’t sweating it rounding first.” Lowe, who had a bunch of family at the game in Atlanta, nearly had his first stolen by Ender Inciarte: “There’s certain things you remember — like my heart stopping, because I thought it was going to be caught.”

Rays rumblings

Congrats if you had Pinto in a pool to homer for the Rays before Arozarena, Josh Lowe, Manuel Margot and Zunino. … Chloe Grimes, the 8-year-old cancer patient whose plight was highlighted by her interactions with Brett Phillips, is set to undergo thyroid removal surgery Tuesday. Contributions to a gofundme account just exceeded $35,600. … The Rays finally got their navy jerseys — delayed by supply chain and manufacturing issues as a result of the abbreviated spring — and can start wearing them in games. … An online auction raising mental health awareness and benefiting the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay starts Sunday. Items include the No. 98 jerseys the Rays wore in spring training in honor of bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez, who died by suicide in January; Brandon Lowe’s custom cleats; and other memorabilia, including signed Arozaerena, Franco and Kiermaier bats. See raysbaseball.com/auctions. … MLB.com’s first mock-up of the July 17 draft has Tampa Bay taking a familiar name: Nevada high school outfielder Justin Crawford, son of former Rays star Carl Crawford. … Attendance was under 10,000 for eight of the first 14 home games, though it seems worth noting that April 23, a Saturday night with a big Kenny Chesney concert in Tampa, Rays-Red Sox outdrew Lightning-Predators 19,137-19,092.

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