San Francisco Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos accomplished something that had never been done at Oracle Park. During Sunday’s game against the San Diego Padres, Ramos belted a solo home run into the water in the infamous McCovey Cove, becoming the first right-handed hitter to ever achieve that feat.
Prior to Sunday’s blast, only left-handed hitters have managed to slug home runs into McCovey Cove. Hitters such as Barry Bonds, Pablo Sandoval and many others deposited home runs into the water, but it had never been done from the right side of the plate.
One lucky Giants fan named Dave Edlund, otherwise known as “McCovey Cove Dave,” was able to secure the historic home run ball in his kayak out in McCovey Cove. However, Edlund has offered the ball up to the National Baseball Hall of Fame rather than returning it to the Giants organization.
“#HeliotRamos of the #SFGiants just hit the first ever right handed #splashhit home run,” Edlund posted on Instagram after retrieving the ball. “It was something that took 25 years to happen. The rarest of all splash hit HRs. We have had 104 Giants splash hit and 63 opponent splash hits but Heliot hit the 168th splash hit and he did it right handed.”
Edlund was previously involved in a controversy when Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II launched a home run into McCovey Cove. The Giants fan was able to secure the ball, and he reportedly had asked for a job in exchange for the ball.
However, Edlund told SFGate in a recent interview he wanted to reach a deal that would allow him to park his vehicle in the Giants’ lot at Pier 30/32 at a discounted rate. No deal ever came to fruition.
Ramos tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning on the historic home run. Considering Oracle Park has been open for 25 seasons, it’s pretty impressive that no right-handed hitter had reached McCovey until Sunday.
