| Jeremy Hermida |
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Called up from Double-A Carolina , Hermida made his major league debut with the Florida Marlins on August 31, 2005 . On the first At-bat of his major league career, he did something no one had done. At Dolphins Stadium , he had a Pinch-hit Grand Slam in the seventh inning off the St. Louis Cardinals ' Al Reyes on a 1-1 pitch in the Marlins' 10–5 loss. Hermida, who hit 18 home runs and 63 RBI in 118 games in Double-A, batted for pitcher Brian Moehler and homered to Right Field , some 373 feet away. But he made a name for himself by becoming the third player in baseball history to hit a grand slam in his first game, the second to do it in his first at-bat, and the first to pull it off as a pinch-hitter. According to the Elias Sports Bureau , the only other player with a grand slam in his first major league at-bat was Pitcher Bill Duggleby , who did it for the Philadelphia Phillies at home against the New York Giants in the second inning on April 21, 1898 . Duggleby was the winning Pitcher that day. Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants also hit a slam in his first game off Los Angeles Dodgers Reliever Jack Purdin , doing so in his third plate appearance on June 25, 1968 , at Candlestick Park . The Giants won 10–0. The Marlins' No. 1 draft pick in 2002 , and one of the highest-rated Minor League players this season, Hermida was a rising star in Minor League before being brought up. The Marlins were not looking for him to make a significant contribution the way Miguel Cabrera did when he was brought up from Double-A in June 2003 , but Hermida has been compared to Braves ' Rookie Jeff Francoeur ever since the two were 14 years old growing up in the Atlanta area. Francoeur has emerged as a strong National League Rookie Of The Year candidate. The Marlins promoted Hermida before September 1 so that he would be eligible to be on the Marlins' postseason roster. However, the Marlins, who led the wild-card race on September 13 , lost 12 of their next 14 games and were eliminated from postseason contention. Going into the 2006 season, Hermida is a strong favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. SOURCES
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