When Julio Rodríguez hit the first ball he saw into the bullpen, and then the next one into Edgar’s, and then the third one into Edgar’s, and then the next one to the Starbucks sign, and then the fifth one into the upper tank of bleachers, it was a spectacle that had me smiling like an idiot.
But beyond that, I’d never felt more connected to him. And even after a year of anticipating his follow-up to 2022’s record-breaking performance, my feelings still took me by surprise. I couldn’t quite figure out what that emotion was. Clearly his putting this kind of show on inside T-Mobile Park had something to do with it.