April 29, 2010 – Luke Hughes hit a home run in his first major league at bat and in the process became the fifth Minnesota Twin to accomplish this feat. Hughes hit his home run to right field off Detroit Tiger starter Max Scherzer on a 2-2 count as he lead off the third inning. Actually Hughes was batting in the second inning when Delmon Young was caught stealing third base for the final out of the second inning so that at bat did not count. Hughes, who was born in Perth, Australia, is the eighth Aussie to hit a homer in the major leagues and the first to do so in his first at-bat in the bigs. Unfortunately for Hughes and the Twins, they lost the game to the Tigers by an 11-6 score.
A complete list of Twins to hit a home run in either their first at bat or their first major league game are listed below. Hal Haydel is the only pitcher in the group. Oddly enough, no Twins rookie ever accomplished this feat at the Metrodome.
Player | Date | At Bat | Count | Opponent | Pitcher |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Luke Hughes | 4-28-2010 | 1 | 2-2 | in Detroit | Max Scherzer |
Andre David | 6-29-1984 | 1 | 1-2 | in Detroit | Jack Morris |
Gary Gaetti | 9-20-1981 | 1 | 1-1 | in Texas | Charlie Hough |
Tim Laudner | 8-28-1981 | 3 | 0-1 | Detroit @ Met Stadium | Dave Rozema |
Kent Hrbek | 8-24-1981 | 5 | 2-2 | in New York | George Frazier |
Dave McKay | 8-22-1975 | 1 | 1-1 | Detroit @ Met Stadium | Vern Ruhle |
Eric Soderholm | 9-3-1971 | 2 | 1-1 | Oakland @ Met Stadium | Diego Segui |
Hal Haydel | 9-7-1970 | 2 | 0-0 | Milwaukee @ Met Stadium | Al Downing |
Rick Renick | 7-11-1968 | 1 | 3-1 | Detroit @ Met Stadium | Mickey Lolich |