KIDWCKED
08-08-2010, 04:03 PM
c/p from Tsn by the a/p
TORONTO - A home run on his first big-league pitch. A double, single and another homer in the at-bats that followed. A curtain call where fans showered him with adoration. The crowd of 24,168 chanting his name.
That's the stuff of fairy tales when it comes to a debut in the majors.
That was J.P. Arencibia's afternoon Saturday.
The 24-year-old catching prospect made an instant impact, fitting right in on a memorable day of home-run derby for the Toronto Blue Jays in a 17-11 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays.
"I could never have imagined this, ever," an emotional Arencibia, at times fighting back tears, said afterwards. "I was pretty surprised because my first at-bat, I really wasn't that nervous. I was pretty even-keeled and then after that I was pretty comfortable in the box.
"But I imagined I'd have at least one strikeout in my debut, just because of the nerves."
Instead, Arencibia looked like he belonged from the start. Even home-plate umpire Mark Carlson was impressed.
"He's like, `Man, you've got a great day,"' relayed Arencibia. "I was like, `Where am I going to go from here?' This is not going to happen every day."
Neither is the type of offensive show his team put together.
TORONTO - A home run on his first big-league pitch. A double, single and another homer in the at-bats that followed. A curtain call where fans showered him with adoration. The crowd of 24,168 chanting his name.
That's the stuff of fairy tales when it comes to a debut in the majors.
That was J.P. Arencibia's afternoon Saturday.
The 24-year-old catching prospect made an instant impact, fitting right in on a memorable day of home-run derby for the Toronto Blue Jays in a 17-11 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays.
"I could never have imagined this, ever," an emotional Arencibia, at times fighting back tears, said afterwards. "I was pretty surprised because my first at-bat, I really wasn't that nervous. I was pretty even-keeled and then after that I was pretty comfortable in the box.
"But I imagined I'd have at least one strikeout in my debut, just because of the nerves."
Instead, Arencibia looked like he belonged from the start. Even home-plate umpire Mark Carlson was impressed.
"He's like, `Man, you've got a great day,"' relayed Arencibia. "I was like, `Where am I going to go from here?' This is not going to happen every day."
Neither is the type of offensive show his team put together.