SAN DIEGO -- This time, Blaine Crim nailed this first impression.
Crim joined the Rockies on Friday and socked his first Major League hit -- a three-run home run in the fourth inning of a 4-2 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
The Statcast-projected 439-foot drive, into the second deck in left field off Padres starting pitcher JP Sears, was a long time coming. Crim spent six seasons in the Rangers’ system, interspersed with two winters in Puerto Rico and one in the Dominican Republic.
Given a first Major League opportunity by the Rangers earlier this season, he went 0-for-11.
“I had plenty of thoughts like, ‘Shoot, that might have been my only shot,’” Crim said.
But the Rockies claimed Crim, 28, off waivers on Aug. 3, and called him up from Triple-A Albuquerque to replace struggling first baseman Michael Toglia.
“I was flying up here with [pitcher Bradley] Blalock [the Rockies’ Saturday starter] today, and we were talking about it,” Crim said. “Then a lot of the guys here were speaking it into existence. So it was cool.
“I’m glad it happened on the first pitch of the at-bat.”
The Rockies were happy it happened at any point.
They had lost six straight, 13 of 15 and 17 of 20. Before Crim’s homer, they had gone 41 innings at Petco Park dating to last year without a run. Before Friday’s fourth inning, the Rockies had no hits and had struck out seven times against Sears.
“For me, that three-run homer felt like a bubble burst,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “You could feel the dugout just exhale, which was huge – exactly what we needed.”
Kyle Farmer followed immediately with his eighth homer of the season.
“We weren’t even done celebrating that when Farmer hit his, and it was just a super-cool, special moment,” Crim said. “I wasn’t even done taking my batting gloves off when he hit it. I freaked out.”
The victory brought the Rockies to 41-107, meaning that with 12 games left they’ve matched the Modern Era-low win total of last year’s White Sox.
“It gave me that little extra adrenaline rush to see everyone bouncing around, high fives and all that,” said starting pitcher Tanner Gordon, who matched his career high with nine strikeouts while yielding only one run over six-plus innings.
Under-recruited out of high school in Mobile, Ala., Crim abandoned a dream of playing in the Southeastern Conference. He played four years at Mississippi College and thought about the military or even working in the trucking business for his father. The Rangers took him in the 19th round of the 2019 Draft, but he wasn’t sure he would make it.
“Even in my first season, I was trying to get out of it and go to work for my dad,” he said. “I had just gotten engaged. … My support system wouldn’t let it happen. Thankfully, they kept me straight.”
Straight, but slow.
Crim had a Minor League slash line of .295/.373/.504 from 2019-24, with farm work occupying the 2020 pandemic year. This spring was Crim’s fourth in Rangers camp as a non-roster invitee, but the presence of Jake Burger at first base had him blocked. However, Crim’s regular-season start at Triple-A Round Rock was too strong to ignore -- a 313/.365/.565 slash line with seven homers. He made his Major League debut on May 2.
But after going hitless over five games, Crim was optioned back to Round Rock, where he posted an .865 OPS over the next 55 games. But the Rangers designated him for assignment, and the Rockies claimed him on Aug. 3 and sent him to Albuquerque.
Immediately, Crim found himself facing his old teammates for Round Rock in one of those Pacific Coast League six-game series. He went 2-for-22 with a home run, a double and five strikeouts. But Crim played better, and the unexpected chance came.
The year-long struggles of Toglia, the Opening Day first baseman, opened doors – first for Warming Bernabel, who sustained a concussion on Monday. After Toglia did little in another opportunity, the call came for Crim.
After such a long trip to the Majors and back again, Friday’s first homer was a blur.
“I just blacked out,” he said. “I was just happy it went over. If it would have been a wall-scraper, I’d have been OK. Honestly, if it would have been a ground ball in the 6-hole, I’d have been fine.”
But Crim’s fairy tale swing was just what the Rockies needed.