George Lombard Jr.’s first major-league home run did more than announce his arrival. It turned one Yankees cap into the luckiest souvenir in Yankee Stadium.
Bruce Roberts, an Army veteran from Utah, had bought the hat only 10 minutes earlier when he saw the ball heading for the left-field seats Tuesday night. He yanked the cap off his head and held it up. When he lowered it, the home run ball was sitting inside.
“Totally unexpected,” Roberts told The Athletic.
The blast came in the fifth inning of Lombard’s MLB debut and put the Yankees up 2-0 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
That score held up as the final. Lombard’s shot was a clean one: 392 feet, 100.2 mph off the bat, launched on Hunter Dobbins’ 0-2 sweeper that caught too much of the plate.
“This is probably a moment, a swing and a day that I won’t forget,” Lombard said after going 1-for-2 with a walk.
The 21-year-old’s first big-league plate appearance came in the third inning, when he grounded out. Two innings later, he changed the game with one swing and got swarmed by teammates after circling the bases.
The Yankees had every reason to be invested in the night. They believe Lombard can be their shortstop of the future, and they moved struggling former top prospect Anthony Volpe to Triple A on Monday night. After a relatively quiet trade deadline, the club is still trying to gain ground in the American League East against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and the surging Boston Red Sox.
There was another family connection to the moment, too. George Lombard Jr.’s brother, Jacob, 18, also homered in his pro debut Tuesday with the Miami Marlins’ Low-A affiliate after being drafted No. 14 this year.
“They might want to head to Vegas tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
The ball’s journey into Roberts’ hat set off a chain of events that ended with a memorable family meeting. Security at Yankee Stadium approached Roberts, who was at the game with his wife, Marie, and son, Cash, for Cash’s 12th birthday. They asked whether he would be willing to give the ball to Lombard, whose parents, George and Judy, were also in attendance.
Roberts said yes in exchange for signed baseballs from Lombard and a chance to meet him.
“No-brainer,” Roberts said. “They were really generous about it.”
He wound up with even more. Lombard, dressed in sweatpants, a Yankees shirt and sandals, came out to meet the family and handed them a signed black bat. A few minutes later, Lombard’s father came over and thanked Roberts with a handshake.
“Hopefully, he’ll hit a few more,” George Lombard Sr. said, “and you guys will catch a few more.”
George Lombard Jr. said the ball would go to his parents, who would probably keep it in their Miami home.
For Roberts, who grew up in the Bay Area rooting for the San Francisco Giants and coaches his son’s Little League team, the whole night was beyond anything he expected. The family arrived in New York on Monday and plans to leave Friday.
Cash wanted the trip to include the Statue of Liberty, the Sept. 11 memorial, a Broadway show and the Empire State Building. He also wanted to catch a Yankees game.
Roberts had thought about seats behind home plate or closer to the action, but instead bought outfield tickets a few days earlier.
“And I just thought, this time, let’s try the outfield,” he said. “Somewhere in left or left-center field. Maybe one of the balls will come close and it will be exciting.”
It turned out to be a very good call.
“Super exciting,” Roberts said.
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