Diamondbacks utility man Willie Bloomquist is about the farthest thing you can find from Babe Ruth in the power department, but Bloomquist borrowed a page from Ruth on Wednesday and made a sick kid's wish come true by smacking a home run.
Every homestand, Bloomquist invites a patient from Phoenix Children's Hospital to attend a game at Chase Field. On Wednesday night, it was 14-year-old Abe Speck, who predicted before the game that Bloomquist was going to homer.
But unlike Ruth, who actually promised he would go deep during a game in 1926, Bloomquist, who had 14 career home runs entering the game, tried to tell Abe a long ball isn't likely.
"This kid he goes, 'If you hit a home run, will you point to me?' " Bloomquist said. "I go, 'Buddy, I don't hit a lot of home runs, that's wishful thinking.' He goes, 'No, you're going to hit a home run tonight, and if you do, will you point to me?' "
In the third inning, Bloomquist lined a 2-0 fastball from San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner into the left-field stands.
"I hit that and I'm like, 'There is no way that just happened,' " Bloomquist said. "I'm almost tearing up, going, 'This is incredible.' That came from another power. That wasn't me that hit that ball. That came from somewhere else. That made that little boy's night."
When he got to the plate, he pointed up toward Abe in Section 129.
"I understand he was pretty ecstatic," Bloomquist said. "That's probably the coolest story I've had since I was in the big leagues."
2 comments:
I've got chills, goosebumps, and teared up just a bit. Good story, babe. Thanks for sharing.
I'm all teary. This is a real feel good story.
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