Andy Phillips Smacks First Big League Home Run
9/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 |
Watch Video of Phillips' First Home Run
(courtesy of Yankees.com)
BOSTON, Mass. -- Former University of Alabama All-American and finalist for the 1999 Dick Howser Trophy, Andy Phillips etched his name in Major League Baseball history on Sunday afternoon as he slugged his first career home run in the New York Yankees 11-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Phillips provided the lone highlight of the day for the Yankees, belting his first big-league home run in the eighth. The homer was also Phillips' first hit in the Majors, coming on the first pitch in his first career at-bat. He was pinch-hitting for third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
"I would have liked to have been in a situation where it put us up or gotten us even closer," Phillips said. "To be in this rivalry, in this place, to have that happen, I was running around the bases, floating."
Phillips becomes the 21st player in the history of baseball to hit a home run on the first pitch of his first at-bat. The last American League player to turn the trick was New York Yankees outfielder Marcus Thames (June 10, 2002). The last National League players to hit a home run on his first pitch in the big leagues was Kazuo Matsui of the New York Mets (April 6, 2004) earlier this season against Atlanta.
Phillips ball cleared the "Green Monster" in left-center field and caromed back on to the field. The ball was retrieved as a keepsake for Phillips' accomplishment.
"When my wife and I buy a house, it will go somewhere in there. Right now we're living out of our car, so I guess I could put it on the dashboard," he chuckled.
HOMERS HIT ON FIRST PITCH OF FIRST AT-BAT
(Source: Major League Baseball)
American League
Player Team Date
*Bill Lefebrve Boston June 10, 1938
George Vico Detroit April 20, 1948
Bert Campaneris Kansas City July 23, 1964
Brant Alyea Washington Sept. 12, 1965
*Don Rose California May 24, 1972
Al Woods Toronto April 7, 1977
Jay Bell Cleveland Sept. 29, 1986
Junior Felix Toronto May 4, 1989
*Esteban Yan Tampa Bay June 4, 2000
Marcus Thames NY Yankees June 10, 2002
Andy Phillips NY Yankees Sept. 26, 2004
National League
Player Team Date
Walter Mueller Pittsburgh May 7, 1922
*Clise Dudley Brooklyn April 27, 1929
Eddie Morgan St. Louis April 14, 1936
Clyde Vollmer Cincinnati May 31, 1942
Chuck Tanner Milwaukee April 12, 1955
*Jim Bullinger Chicago June 8, 1992
Jay Gainer Colorado May 14, 1993
Chris Richard St. Louis July 17, 2000
*Gene Stechschutte St. Louis April 17, 2001
Kazuo Matsui NY Mets April 6, 2004
