The Atlanta Braves slugger hit a historic grand slam just days after a heartbreaking situation.
Atlanta Braves designated hitter made MLB history in a hard period of his life, with one of the craziest hits of his career coming less than two weeks after devastatingly losing his mother to cancer. On Saturday, he became the first player in league history to hit a walk-off grand slam while debuting with their new team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Smith capped off the Braves’ six-run ninth with his electric grand slam to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 at home. He nailed the hit off a pitch from Royals closer Carlos Estevez, the league’s leading pitcher in saves last season with 42. After becoming one of the last players to make the team’s Opening Day roster, Smith smoke about his gratitude for the moment.
Smith signed with Atlanta in February on a minor league deal and was signed to the team in March. He spoke about his mom’s illness during Spring Training and that his new franchise was supportive while dealing with it. Smith’s mom was diagnosed with cancer in September, and almost didn’t make it through camp, which caused Smith to have to leave the team for a bit longer than a week. He returned to fight for his job, unfortunately not being able to be with her when she passed. But he’s grateful to the Braves and how they handled it.
“They didn’t care about baseball,” Smith said.
Here is the full story from Braves Roundtable writer Joey Linn on Smith’s historic night.
Smith debuted in 2017 with the New York Mets, and has since spent time the Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, and now Braves. He came over from the Giants after a solid season of contributing, and he nailed his first impression in Atlanta.