Revisit the San Francisco Giants’ Eight Grand Slams in 2015
Aug 28, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) left fielder Nori Aoki (23) and first baseman Brandon Belt (9) greet right fielder Marlon Byrd (6) who hit a grand slam home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
It took Marlon Byrd just one at-bat to endear himself to Giants’ fans, as he showed off his Old Man Strength to hit a two-run home run in his very first plate appearance in orange and black. Six games later, he hit the franchise record-breaking grand slam.
On August 28th, in the third inning of a scoreless game with the St. Louis Cardinals, Byrd stepped in with the bases loaded and one out against his nemesis, Michael Wacha. Byrd entered the at-bat with an 0-17 against Wacha hanging over his head, but that made no difference. On the first pitch, Wacha hung a breaking ball, and (at the risk of sounding redundant), it was the good old “hang ’em and bang ’em”.
Byrd used that Old Man Strength to take Wacha deep to straightaway center field, putting the Giants ahead 4-0. He received a curtain call, doffing his helmet to the fans that have quickly grown to love the Byrdman. In just seven games, Byrd was hit three home runs, and has 10 RBI. He’s a solo home run shy of the home run cycle as a Giant.
It was the first time the Giants had hit grand slams on back-to-back days since June 11th and 12th in 2003, when Pedro Feliz and Rich Aurilia did the honors. It was also the first time they’d accomplished the feat at home since July 24th and 25th in 1998, when Jeff Kent and J.T. Snow did so at Candlestick.
Along with being the eighth grand slam of the season for the Giants, that blast was Byrd’s eighth home run worth four runs.
Which one of these grand slams was your favorite?