The honor of best baseball rookie will go to someone else. The best rookie story, however, belongs to Boston’s Daniel Nava.
On the first at-bat of his major league career, Nava hit the first pitch for a grand slam.
Recommended Stories
For those who knew how far he had come to make it to the majors, it was a watery-eyed moment. Nava was the No. 9 hitter on his high school team, was barely 5-foot-8 and less than 140 pounds when he entered college. He was the equipment manager of the Santa Clara University baseball team. But he kept growing, adding three inches in height.
Eventually, he transferred to a junior college, did well and returned to Santa Clara. The roadblocks returned. He was cut by a team in an independent league, only to later sign, play well and then get his contract purchased by the Red Sox in October 2007.
Talk about a journey that deserved a splashy start.
“I guess it’s pretty ridiculous,” Nava told reporters Saturday.
Agreed.
