WATCH: Mookie Betts Makes Nice Bat-For-Ball Trade With Fan
Reds rookie pinch-hitter TJ Friedl smoked a homer for his first big league hit yesterday and the mission to get the baseball was on. Dodgers MVP Mookie Betts acted quickly jogging to the outfield wall and asked the fan for the ball back -- the fan tossed it back immediately with no demands.
Betts returned the following inning with a souvenir for the fan. Guy gets it.
Friedl was asked postgame if he blacked out after realizing he just hit a home run for his first big league knock.
"I remember running at third and heading home to really live in that moment and just embrace everything going on. That's a one-time thing," Friedl said. "You'll never get that back. You never get your first hit back. For that hit to be a home run, it's so meaningful. I didn't black out. I remember all of it. I tried to take it in as much as possible."
Retrieving that ball wasn't likely to be on his mind just yet, however Betts understood how important that ball really was.
"I just asked him for the ball. I just told him kind of through sign language," Betts said postgame. "I just said, 'I'll throw it back?' He didn't hesitate. He threw it right away."
Betts would toss the ball directly to first base coach Delino DeShields, who threw it straight to the dug out where Friedl could soak it all in.
"That's just first class. It's incredible," Freidl said. "For him to do something like that, it's definitely just world class out of him. I want to go over there and just say thank you in person. Thank you is all i can really say because it means so much. Just to get that ball back, for it to be my first home run, just for him to know that and turn around to the fan."
Brilliantly done, Mr. Betts.