No sense in me rehashing Yasiel Puig’s unbelievable grand slam in the bottom of the 8th inning during Thursday night’s 5-0 shutout of the Atlanta Braves since every writer, blogger and talk show host in the baseball world has already done so.

But what no writer, blogger or talk show host can put into words is the incredible excitement and electricity that immediately filled Dodger Stadium the moment that Dodger pinch hitter Hanley Ramirez drew a walk in an absolutely great at bat, thus bringing Puig to the plate with the bases loaded.

I had been waiting for this exact moment not just since Puig made his debut with the Dodgers just four short days earlier, but since the very day that the Dodgers signed him on June 28, 2012. Yes, I have been following Yasiel Puig very closely since that day.

As I have done for every at bat since Puig was called up from Double-A Chattanooga on Monday, June 3rd, I pulled my camera from my backpack to photograph what could very well be his most exciting at bat yet. In fact, as I was doing so I said to the Dodger fan sitting next to me, a complete stranger, “I sure would hate to miss Puig’s first grand slam.”

I didn’t.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s 9,000 worth of words about Puig’s epic grand slam home run (click on photos to enlarge):

Bases loaded.

The pitch by Braves sidearm throwing right-hander Cory Gearrin – a hanging slider.

Puig goes with the pitch and launches it to right field (note the ball in flight)

A perfect follow through.

A well disciplined and non-offensive bat flip.

Approaching third base.

Receiving congratulations from third base coach Tim Wallach.

High-fives at home plate from Skip Schumaker, Luis Cruz and Hanley Ramirez.

Puig’s third curtain call in four days.
(Photo credit all – Ron Cervenka)

We are indeed witnessing history in the making my friends.

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Author’s Note

This from Ellis Sports:

Yasiel Puig has driven in nine runs in the four games he has played since he made his major-league debut on June 3. That ties the most RBIs through four games among players that began their career since 1920 (the year RBIs became an official statistic). Six other players had nine RBIs in their first four major-league games: Jack Merson, Joe Cunningham, Dave Kingman, Arquimedez Pozo, Mike Jacobs and Will Middlebrooks.

Over the last 40 years, only three other Dodgers under the age of 23 have hit a grand-slam home run: Mariano Duncan (1985), Adrian Beltre (twice in 2000) and James Loney (2006).