Baltimore Orioles rookie Gunnar Henderson hit his first career home run in his very first game. He also lost his helmet.
The Baltimore Orioles are the feel-good team of this season, as they are in the postseason hunt. The team brought some excitement, as they called up top prospect Adley Rutschman to be their starting catcher. But on Wednesday, the team officially called up their second-ranked prospect, third baseman Gunnar Henderson. He would make his debut on Wednesday, Aug. 31 against the Cleveland Guardians.
Henderson sure made the most of his very first major league game. In his second at-bat, the rookie sent a pitch deep to center field to extend Baltimore’s lead to 2-0. In the process, Henderson took off his helmet before rounding the bases.
Gunnar Henderson hits first home run, loses helmet: Best memes and tweets
Not only was the baseball flying, but also Henderson’s flow. Twitter users reacted to the epic home run by the rookie.
Henderson made some history with his home run. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, Henderson is the 10th player Orioles, Browns and Brewers history to hit a home run in their debut game. But, Henderson is now the youngest, as his 21 years and 63 days have passed Davy Jones’ 21 years and 77 days back in 1901!
Prior to his call-up, Henderson recorded a .297 batting average, a .947 OPS, 19 home runs, 76 RBI, and 121 hits in 112 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
Henderson’s first-ever home run with the Orioles will forever be remembered, not just because of how far he hit it, but because he rounded the bases without a helmet.