A day after Florida baseball legend Pete Alonso hit his 200th career home run, the most recent Gator to make it to the big leagues — outfielder [autotag]Wyatt Langford[/autotag] — hit the first of his career.
Langford didn’t round the bases leisurely after seeing the ball clear the fence like most rookies do to take in their first big-league bomb. No, he was at a full sprint for the entirety of his first home run as it was an inside-the-parker.
The ball hit about halfway up the wall in right-center before ricocheting past the right fielder. Langford’s most underrated tool is his speed, and he turned on the jets to round the bags and give the Rangers a 4-0 lead.
An inside-the-parker for Wyatt Langford's 1st career homer! pic.twitter.com/NTweYIf3Fi
— MLB (@MLB) April 28, 2024
Langford might be the best player out of Gainesville since Alonso and his first homer being an inside-the-parker could be a popular trivia answer in a few decades if he has the career everyone expects him to.
Wyatt Langford is just the 4th player in Rangers history (beg. 1972) to hit an inside-the-park home run for his 1st career Major League home run:
Wyatt Langford, 4/28/24 vs. CIN
Josh Smith, 7/11/22 vs. OAK
Craig Gentry, 9/23/11 vs. SEA
Marc Sagmoen, 4/17/97 at KC— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) April 28, 2024
It’s been an up-and-down season so far for Langford, but he’s doing fine for a 22-year-old rookie playing in the toughest league in the world. Through 27 games (101 at-bats), he is slashing .248/.325/.327 with 11 runs batted in. He’s splitting time between designated hitter and left field at a 2-to-1 ratio.
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