Baseball, Florida Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton
MIAMI – The Miami Marlins’ latest homestand ended with their new ballpark still standing, despite Giancarlo Stanton blasting home runs off it.
He became the first player to hit the home-run sculpture, and the first player to homer into the beer garden. He also knocked out a section of the scoreboard with a homer.
“That’s why we have maintenance workers – to fix the things Giancarlo breaks,” Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said with a chuckle.
The 6-foot-5, 246-pound Stanton has become a master of the tape-measure homer and more. He hit 12 home runs in May to tie the franchise record for a single month, and drove in 30 runs.
Since the start of the expansion era in 1961, the only other player younger than 23 to total more homers and RBIs in a single month was Bob Horner in 1980, the Marlins said, citing the Elias Sports Bureau.
Stanton doesn’t turn 23 until November.
“Unbelievable,” teammate Jose Reyes said, shaking his head. “No one hits the ball harder than that guy. It’s fun to watch. And he’s only 22. It’s unbelievable. He’s 22! Unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
“He’s a little bit of a freak,” teammate John Buck added.
Opponents are likewise impressed.
“There’s not a park that’s going hold him,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
The buzz about the Marlins’ right fielder has been slowly building since he had three hits in his major league debut in 2010. His majestic clouts are attracting more notice now that the perennially overlooked Marlins are on the national radar thanks to an offseason spending spree and a 21-8 record in May, best in the majors.
Just when the name Mike Stanton was starting to catch on – thanks to 56 homers in his first two seasons – the slugger asked to be called Giancarlo. His full name is Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton, and he went with Mike in school because it was easier to pronounce.
The Californian started the season slowly. On April 28 he was hitting .246 with no home runs, and it’s hardly a coincidence the Marlins were 8-12 and last in the N.L. East.
“When he was struggling, we went to San Francisco,” Buck recalled. “I told him, ‘All you need is a little West Coast air, since you’re from here. Get that in those big old muscles of yours, and you’re going to take off.’ He hit a bomb in San Francisco and I said, ‘There you go, take off.’ Maybe he took it literally.”
Stanton hit five homers in a seven-game stretch and has hardly slowed since.
His walk-off grand slam beat the Mets, and his grand slam against the Rockies made part of the scoreboard go blank.
He begins June ranked among N.L. leaders with 13 homers and 39 RBIs, and his average is a season-high .304.
The statistic that makes him proudest is the last one.
“That’s the kind of hitter I’ve been working to be,” he said. “I don’t like having a low average, period. I don’t like the whole 1 for 5 with a homer and everyone else is like, ‘Great game’ because you hit a homer. I really don’t like that kind of game.”
Stanton batted .343 in May. Guillen considers his young slugger a potential .300 hitter.
“He has the talent to do it,” Guillen said. “And if this guy hits .300, he has a chance to win the MVP, because he’ll have RBIs and home runs.”