Dolsi forever linked to Manny 1st pitch slugger's 497th HR

05/07/2008 8:34 PM ET
Dolsi forever linked to Manny
First-pitch slider ends up as slugger's 497th long ball
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

DETROIT -- Freddy Dolsi idolized Manny Ramirez while growing up in the Dominican Republic. Now they're linked in history with one pitch.

Ramirez was Dolsi's favorite player, so it was only fitting that Dolsi would make his Major League debut as Ramirez stepped to the plate in the seventh inning Tuesday night. The Red Sox slugger sent Dolsi's first Major League pitch out deep to straightaway center, an estimated 427-foot shot to cap Boston's 5-0 victory.

Since then, Dolsi has received phone calls and text messages from family and friends. But they haven't simply been congratulations.

"They said, 'Why did you throw a slider on your first pitch?'" Dolsi said. "'Why didn't you throw a fastball?'"

Dolsi was called up from Double-A Erie over the weekend when Denny Bautista went on the 15-day disabled list. However, Dolsi didn't play Sunday or Monday. Dolsi went on to finish the seventh and through the eighth, but he'll be remembered for his first pitch.

Dolsi became just the third Tiger since at least 1956 to give up a home run to the first batter he faced in the Majors, according to research on baseball-reference.com. Greg Gohr was the last to do it, giving up a Terry Steinbach home run on his third big-league pitch on April 7, 1993 at Oakland. The other was Fred Gladding, who surrendered a Jim Gentile homer at Baltimore on July 1, 1961.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

poor guy!

I feel bad for him...

manny was a like a wolf in a lamb's pen with that one!

or the Rod-ism "served him a meatball!" lol