Detroit Tigers: Buck Farmer Knocks First Major League Hit (VIDEO)
By Matt Snyder
One of the worst things about baseball — on a large scale — is pitchers hitting. They’re very bad at it as a group and generally produce the most uninteresting events at the plate. But every now and then we get a little bit of joy out of the experience. Not enough to justify the fact that these poor guys are still sent to the slaughter in the National League, but enough for one to forget the horrors of the world for a few fleeting seconds.
Last night’s game between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs provided one such moment. A lengthy rain delay forced starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez out of the game in the third inning, and the Tigers had to turn to the bullpen to get them through the rest of the game.
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Manager Brad Ausmus had a decision to make: burn through the rest of the bullpen and the bench quickly and opt for pinch hitters, or send a relief pitcher or two to the bat.
And so it happened that Buck Farmer, a relief pitcher, strode to the plate for the first time ever as a professional baseball player. With a runner on first and only one out, Farmer’s first task was to try to lay down a bunt. This idea failed miserably as he missed making bat-to-ball contact.
Farmer stepped out of the box and had a brief conversation with third base coach Dave Clark before digging back in. Pitches two and three were both taken for a strike and a ball respectively, but he took his first real-life professional baseball swing on pitch four. Contact was made, a base hit was recorded, and the dugout erupted in applause.
Here’s the video of the hit, which was a well-struck one-hopper up the middle.
Unfortunately for Farmer and the Tigers, his pitching this season has not netted as much success. He allowed three runs in his 1.1 innings of work (3 hits, 1 HR, 1 BB), and saw his ERA balloon to 8.39 on the year.
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