Relievers getting base hits was the first thing I loved about baseball. As a small child I had always liked baseball because it was part of my family’s daily routine, but it wasn’t until Roberto Hernández of the 1997 Giants laced a grounder through the right side that I realized that this game rules. Before he stepped into the batter’s box, my father explained that Hernández had been in the majors for seven years without ever getting a plate appearance and was thus extremely unlikely to get a hit. So when he got the hit, it felt like I was seeing a comet no one had ever seen before.
Will Smith is batting 1.000 in a seven-year career
