This is Colin Curtis, and yesterday, he did something truly remarkable. The rookie was put into the game to replace Brett Gardner, who had just been thrown out of the game for arguing a strike call. The count was 0-2, and as Yankee announcer John Sterling pointed out, Curtis was not in a favorable position: rookie taking over an at-bat with two strikes, facing a pitcher he’d never hit against, at Yankee Stadium. No pressure, right?
Curtis took the next three pitches outside the strike zone, working the count full. And on the 3-2 pitch, he swung away, knocking the ball into the stands for his first major league home run, a three-run job that put the Yankees up, 10-5.
The Yankees got his home run ball back from the fan that caught it, in exchange for other baseballs autographed by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, according to the New York Times. “The guy who caught it probably doesn’t even know who I am.”
The Times also tells us, of Curtis:
Curtis overcame testicular cancer at age 15 and has been cancer free for 10 years; wore No. 9 at Arizona State and this season for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in honor of Roger Maris, who, like his father, is from Fargo, N.D.; and in March hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Yankees’ first Grapefruit League game.
Much of Curtis’s first month in the majors has played out on the West Coast in places like Arizona, where he lined a two-run pinch-hit double for his first hit, or Los Angeles, where his 10-pitch at-bat keyed a ninth-inning rally, or Oakland, where he made a superb diving catch, or his native Seattle, where he started twice in front of friends and family.
A-Rod and Mark Texeira pushed Curtis out of the dugout to take a well-deserved curtain call; afterwards, Gardner - whose ouster from the game made this special moment possible, jokingly told Curtis “You’re welcome,” according to the Times.
Good job, rookie. Keep it up.
you are amazing. enjoy your time with the yankees. i know you’ll enjoy it.
i'm one of those 3 doctors that recommend stuff to people.
