Mitch Jones’ Gets the Most Out of His MLB Debut

A career minor leaguer getting called up for his first major league at bat is one of those awesome baseball moments, and I always root for those guys, no matter what the team.  So tonight, you had to love the crowd’s reaction to Mitch Jones FINALLY making it to the big leagues after nearly 10 seasons.  That’s right, 10 seasons!  The applause started right away, followed by a “Let’s go Mitch” chant. The 31 year-old’s intro song of “Mr. Jones” by The Counting Crows was a nice touch, but I don’t think Mitch noticed.  He was all business at the plate.  From Vin Scully:

 ”Just imagine, he’s waited nearly 10 years for this very moment. Wow. Over 1,000 games, 700 RBI, 221 home runs and finally got called up…Staten Island, Tampa, Norwich, Trenton, Columbus, Las Vegas, Albuquerque.  He knows them all very well.”

And what does he do?  He takes the pitcher deep in the count, but eventually strikes out swinging on a sinker with a 3-2 count.  Your heart breaks and the crowd lets out a huge groan, giving him an audible pat on the back with a nice round of applause as he exits the field to the lonely dugout.  But one player takes the time to put his arm around the guy and give him a little pat on the back.  The player? Andre Ethier. A class act.

Get ‘em next time, Mitch!