Athletics rookie was the hero every player dreams of being in MLB debut

The Oakland Athletics have been Major League Baseball’s hottest team not named the Boston Red Sox for well over a month now. That continued Friday night with a dramatic 1-0 win against the Detroit Tigers in 13 innings.

Along the way, they’ve had contributions from every spot on the 25-man roster and beyond. That too continued Friday night, as rookie outfielder Ramón Laureano became the hero every aspiring player dreams of being in his MLB debut.

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Laureano, 24, was officially called up on Friday after catching fire at the plate at Triple-A Nashville. Over his past 29 games there, Laureano was batting .372 with nine home runs and 19 RBI. Over the last two weeks, he was hitting .500 even. That proved too good for A’s brass to ignore, especially knowing they could use another right-handed bat.

Laureano was written right into manager Bob Melvin’s lineup. He started in center field and hit ninth. Though the start of his debut was rather unremarkable — he was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts — through 12 innings, he saved the best for a memorable 13th inning.

Ramón Laureano’s first career hit was a walk-off

This game was actually hitless into the sixth inning as starting pitchers Brett Anderson and Blaine Hardy dueled. The bullpens then carried a scoreless battle into the 13th inning, which set the stage for Laureano.

With two outs and two runners on base, he cracked a 1-2 pitch to the wall in right-center field for a very long walk-off single. We can’t imagine there’s a better feeling in baseball than producing a moment that big. For it to come in his debut, and for a team that’s in the thick of the postseason hunt, takes it to crazy levels.

Laureano’s new teammates loved it too, welcoming him to the big leagues with an epic celebration.

Ramón Laureano also made a game-changing throw

Perhaps just as important as his walk-off hit was the throw Laureano made just moments earlier. Detroit looked to be in position to score after Jose Iglesias stole second base and catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s throw sailed into center field. However, Laureano charged and made a 148-foot, 91-mph throw on the money to third base just in time to cut Iglesias down.

What. A. Throw.

We’ll never know if Iglesias would have scored. We just know that Laureano took charge defensively. Earlier in the game, he made a pair of nice catches as well.

Ramón Laureano’s call up was memorable too

Adding to the incredible story is the video the Nashville Sounds posted of the moment Ramón Laureano found out he was going to the big leagues.

Moments like that never get old.

Ramón Laureano’s whirlwind 48 hours produced a lot of moments and memories. All of which won’t soon be forgotten by him, his family and A’s fans.

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