The 100th ‘splash’ home run of all time has been hit at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants in Major League Baseball.
San Francisco’s Lamont Wade Jr. hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning of the Giants’ 0-0 home game against the Baltimore Orioles today at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, USA, that landed in the ocean behind the right field wall.
A home run that falls into McCovey Bay, which is adjacent to Oracle Park, is called a splash home run.
It means that the home run splashes and plunges into the water.메이저사이트
On a home game day in San Francisco, it’s not uncommon to see fans in canoes or sailboats in the water beyond the right field fence waiting for a home run to land.
However, depending on which team’s player hit it, it has a different name.
The San Francisco team lists on its website the pitcher who hit the home run and the author of the splash home run that has become synonymous with the team.
If it’s hit by a San Francisco player, it’s labelled a splash home run; if it’s hit by an opposing player, it’s simply a “McCovey-esque home run.
Wade Jr’s home run was the 100th splash home run hit by a San Francisco player at the venue, which opened in 2000.
The ballpark was known as Pacific Bell Park (2000-2003), SBC Park (2004-2005), AT&T Park (2006-2018), and has been called Oracle Park since 2019.
Oracle Park favours left-handed hitters, as it was built for Barry Bonds, the “Home Run King” of San Francisco.
It is a left-right asymmetrical ballpark, with the fence running from right-centre to the right-field foul pole being a straight line rather than a semi-circle, resulting in a shorter distance from home.
A pulling left-handed hitter is more likely to hit a splash home run.
Bonds has 35 career splash home runs in McCovey Bay, including the all-time splash home run numbers 1-9.
Brandon Belt, who played for San Francisco for many years and was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays this year, joins Bonds in double-digit splash home runs with 10.
There have been 55 “home runs in McCovey Bay” hit by non-San Francisco players through the previous day.
Shin-Soo Choo (now SSG Landers) hit one on 3 August 2020 when he was playing for the Texas Rangers, and one on 1 May 2004 when Choi Hee-seop of the KIA Tigers remnants was with the Miami Marlins.