Rookie second baseman Vaughn Grissom made his Major League debut for the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. He made a big first impression — in more ways than one.
In just his third career at-bat, Grissom launched a ball over the Green Monster for a two-run home run. He stamped his arrival by not only homering over the most famous wall in baseball but also with a bat flip for the ages.
The home run is impressive enough. Grissom is making his debut in August for a Braves team in a playoff chase. He’s being thrown right into the fire and seems to be handling things just fine.
The bat flip, though, was beyond impressive. It was special and caught the attention of the baseball world.
Even the Braves couldn’t help but break into smiles in the dugout.
Surely, someone will take great personal offense to Grissom’s flip. To some old school baseball people, the only thing worse than a bat flip is a bat flip from a rookie.
But we can only hope that those voices are drowned out by the people who loved it. A first Major League home run is a huge deal and it’s something that should be enjoyed. Grissom earned his moment and put smiles on a lot of faces doing so.