Reaching the majors is every ballplayer’s dream, but actually arriving in the Show can be overwhelming. We asked some of MLB’s biggest stars to tell us when it truly hit them that they had made the big leagues.
Roman Anthony: “It was my very first pitch. A 102 fastball—didn’t even see it. I immediately start crying. I throw my bat down and scream at the pitcher, ‘That’s not fair! You threw it too fast for me to hit it!’ It took a while for us to talk it over, but ultimately we agreed it wasn’t fair, and I was given a double.”
Ronald Acuña Jr.: “Before my first game, a veteran came up to me and said, ‘Listen, kid. Don’t ever let an umpire show you what’s underneath his mask. It’ll drive you to madness.’ I thought he was kidding, but then, before my first at-bat, the umpire whispered, ‘Do you want to see?’ and there was smoke funneling out of his mask. I politely declined, but it really freaked me out. I didn’t sleep for a week.”
Boban Marjanović: “It’s impossible to describe the emotions of walking out in front of the crowd that first time. I just looked around and said, ‘Wow. I did it. I’m a Major League Baseball player.’ Then the guy next to me said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re an NBA player. You’re holding a basketball as we speak.’ It was a dream come true.”
Trey Yesavage: “My first game, I got there super early. I walked into the locker room and saw Vlad Guerrero Jr. sitting by himself, completely naked, eating a baseball like an apple. I turned around and never brought it up again.”
Paul Skenes: “I’m still waiting for my ‘welcome to the Show’ moment. Nothing about this game is remotely impressive, intimidating, or awe-inspiring. I wake up bored every morning.”
Mookie Betts: “David Ortiz once put me in a guillotine chokehold until I lost consciousness, and right before everything went black, he whispered, ‘This is for no reason. Anything can happen at any time,’ and then he called me an anti-Irish slur, and then it was lights out. From then on, I knew that, up here, you got to be ready for anything.”
Cal Raleigh: “It really sunk into me that I was in the majors when I hit my first homer, and one of the older guys said, ‘Nice job, kid. Tonight you get to have the dream.’ I asked what dream, and he just smiled. Sure enough, that night I dreamed that Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa were lifting me on a chair and singing ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow.’ The next day, I was just grinning ear to ear, and all the veterans knew why. It’s a great dream.”
Elly De La Cruz: “Batting against Phillies middle reliever Orion Kerkering was something I could only dream about growing up. I called my dad when I got back to the hotel, and we just cried together.”
Spencer Schwellenbach: “I remember the first time I faced Mike Trout, just thinking to myself, ‘You grew up idolizing this guy, and now he’s right in front of you, and you’re throwing a ball at his head as hard as you fucking can.’ You know how many times growing up I dreamed about drilling his fat fucking skull and putting him in a coma? I had to pinch myself.”
Gunnar Henderson: “In the minors, players had to bring their own foul poles to games. So when I got called up to the Orioles, I arrived at the clubhouse with two 45-foot steel foul poles on my back, and everyone just burst out laughing at me. Then [Cedric] Mullins took me aside and explained that the stadium provides the foul poles—all we have to do is set them up, take them down, and wax them after each game.”
José Ramírez: “Just getting that email inviting me to join the Cleveland Indians on Microsoft Teams.”
Francisco Alvarez: “My rookie year, I told HR that Mr. Met was routinely dragging a folding chair into the showers, where he would sit and watch me and slowly nod to himself, and the next day I got sent down to the minors. That was when it really hit me: In the majors, I’m replaceable. There are power dynamics and big egos at play, and if I want a roster spot, I can’t complain about Mr. Met’s advances.”
Manny Machado: “Don’t remember.”
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