Great story on the Big League Stew blog over at Yahoo on Toronto’s John McDonald hitting a homer on Father’s Day in a loss to San Francisco.
At first glance, it seems like a meaningless longball that came with a six-run deficit Sunday. But that was McDonald’s first at-bat since the death of his father, who had passed away earlier in the week from liver cancer. The team allowed McDonald to be away from it for nearly two weeks so he could be with his dying dad.
The 12-year big league veteran hadn’t played in a month. Sunday’s blast was just his 14th career homer.
"I was so happy to see him hit that home run, I almost cried myself," said Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston.
That’s what is great about baseball being a marathon, not a sprint. It’s 162 games. Every game means a little something in the standings, but not much in the big picture. Moments like McDonald’s homer can become bigger than the game itself. And it should be that way.
Those in the bleachers in Toronto might not remember years from now what the score was, or who won and who lost. But they’ll remember that game as being the one that McDonald homered in on Father’s Day in his first game back after his dad’s death.
A FEW LINKS
- Koman Coulibaly has been left off of the next group of officials to do games at the World Cup. Coulibaly disallowed a USA goal late in a tie with Slovenia on Friday. If you need another reason to hate soccer, there’s still no announcement on what the call was. How is this possible that we still don’t know?
- Minnesota Twins catching prospect Wilson Ramos is out the next week to 10 days with a strained oblique.
- New York Times has had a couple of good stories on life in Montreal and Quebec post-Expos. Here’s one on the Expos’ famous French-speaking broadcaster. And here’s one on why Montreal can’t even land a minor league team.
Here’s a video of John McDonald talking to reporters after his homer:
