Cardinals rookie shortstop Masyn Winn recorded his first major league hit on Friday night, a fifth inning single that send Busch Stadium into a frenzy.
In normal circumstances, the ball from a player’s first major league hit goes into the dugout to be returned to the player to commemorate the big moment in his career.
That didn’t happen for Winn on Friday night. Instead, after play was stopped, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso launched the ball into the stands in a bizarre move.
Masyn Winn got his first career hit and Pete Alonso threw the ball in the crowd 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/UrHXhguyCc
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 19, 2023
“I feel horrible,” Alonso said when asked about it after the game. “I feel awful. I know it sounds stupid, but it’s just a bad brain fart. I know throwing the ball into the stands …that robs him of a really special moment, but I feel really bad thinking back on my first hit and just getting the ball thrown back to the dugout. I feel awful. I feel like a piece of crap.
“Heat of the moment, you kind of just get lost. I had got up from trying to make a play and the umpire said ‘Hey we’re gonna switch this ball out.’ So I was like OK I’m gonna do what I always do and I always throw the ball in the stands. I’m not ever going to throw the ball into the stands again. I’m just going to roll the ball to the dugout and switch it out. But that’s a really bad mistake and unintentional. I feel horrible about it.”
"I feel horrible. I feel awful. I know it sounds stupid, but it's just a bad brain fart."
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 19, 2023
Pete Alonso says he feels "terrible" for throwing the ball from Masyn Winn's first hit into the stands: pic.twitter.com/KCAsECWK84
The good news for Alonso is that the ball was returned to Winn, who had a good laugh about it after the game when asked about the incident in the clubhouse.
“Oh I had no idea, I got to first and I couldn’t really think about anything else,” Winn said when asked if he knew the ball was thrown into the stands. “He apologized on first, and when he got to second later, he apologized as well. Complete accident. I thought it was quite funny. Especially after we got the ball back, I thought it was a little more funny,” Winn added.
Winn on Alonso throwing his first hit into the stands: "He apologized on first, and when he got to second later, he apologized as well. Complete accident. I thought it was quite funny. Especially after we got the ball back, I thought it was a little more funny." #STLCards pic.twitter.com/I6SAhrMbO0
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) August 19, 2023
Alonso made a mistake, but Winn got his baseball from his first hit. All’s well that ends well.
