Bobby Witt Jr.'s jersey joins dad's bat in Cooperstown
Anne Rogers
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BOSTON -- Bobby Witt Jr. is not the first in his family to have an object of his enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame for a hitting performance.
Yes, Witt¡¯s dad, Bobby Witt Sr. -- who spent 16 Major League seasons as a pitcher -- has a bat on display in Cooperstown. On June 30, 1997, at Dodger Stadium, he became the first American League pitcher to hit a home run in a regular season Interleague game (and first AL pitcher to hit a homer since Roric Harrison in 1972, before the designated hitter was established in the AL).
Now the Witt family will have a jersey in Cooperstown, too.
The HOF announced Wednesday that Witt Jr.¡¯s jersey from Friday¡¯s game in Philadelphia, in which he became the first player ever to record at least 20 homers and 30 stolen bases in each of his first two big league seasons, will be on display at the museum.
¡°It¡¯s special to hear that and be a part of that,¡± Witt said. ¡°They took the base last year [after the 30th stolen base]. So now having the actual jersey with my name on it, it¡¯s pretty surreal.
¡°It gives you motivation. You¡¯ve got to keep doing it.¡±
The moment comes at a special time for the Witt family, with Witt Jr.'s Royals playing at Fenway Park this week. Because Witt Sr. is from the Boston area, born and raised in Canton, Mass., Witt Jr. grew up idolizing the Red Sox and modeling his game after Dustin Pedroia.
The younger Witt knows all the Fenway Park traditions and, for the second year in a row, has several family and friends in the stands for the four-game series.
¡°It is really special watching him here,¡± Witt Sr. said from the stands Wednesday. ¡°I¡¯m just happy for him. I¡¯m his biggest fan. I love watching baseball, being around the game still.¡±
Witt Jr. came to Boston with all five tools clicking now, too. He¡¯s been an elite basestealer since his arrival in Kansas City last year; now, he¡¯s playing elite defense, with his 13 Outs Above Average leading all position players.
At the plate, Witt is slashing .308/.352/.520 with a 135 wRC+ since the beginning of June. He ranks in the 95th percentile of MLB in both expected batting average and expected slugging percentage, Statcast's quality-of-contact versions of traditional BA and SLG.
¡°We talk every night, and it was a conversation of, ¡®Hey, just stay the course. Things are going to start falling for you,¡¯¡± Witt Sr. said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the ebbs and flows of the game. And then all of a sudden, things started to happen. Overall, confidence-wise, he¡¯s maturing and starting to figure things out.¡±
A large part of Witt Jr.¡¯s success lately has been simply letting his talent play. A lot of pressure rests on the 23-year-old¡¯s shoulders -- he¡¯s the face of a franchise desperately trying to get out of a rebuild. The game can speed up on him when he thinks about trying to do all he can to win each night.
To settle down, he took his dad¡¯s advice.
¡°The one thing I regret in my career is that I never really enjoyed it as much as I felt like I should have,¡± Witt Sr. said. ¡°It went by so quickly. I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re in August with another month and a half left and he¡¯s going to complete his second year. It¡¯s crazy. It goes by like that. So I told him, ¡®When you look back on it, it¡¯s always about what you wish you could have done. So do it all, enjoy it.¡¯¡±