Almost two months after debuting in the Majors, the young Cuban Miguel Antonio Vargas hit his first home run in the Big Show during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals, which ended in victory for the Angelenos, the best team in the National League.
Vargas, who started out as the Dodgers’ eighth baseman, went long in his first at-bat with a 390-foot shot into the stands in left-center field. In this way, he broke a string of 35 plate appearances without hitting extra bases, after opening his MLB career with a double in San Francisco.
The son of the legendary Lázaro Vargas caught a fastball (93.5 miles) from lefty Jordan Montgomery and sent it flying with an exit speed of 101.1 mph, his fourth strongest connection since making his Dodgers debut in early August.
A total of 195 Cubans had hit at least one home run in Major League history, a list that rose to 196 with Vargas’ home run. That group is led by Rafael Palmeiro (569), escorted by José Canseco (462) and Tany Pérez (379), the only West Indians with more than 300 homers in US baseball.
At 22 years and 311 days old, Vargas is the twenty-third youngest Cuban to hit a home run in MLB, a list led by Jack Calvo for more than a century. Calvo hit his first home run on June 5, 1913, when he was just 18 years and 359 days old.
In addition to Calvo, only one other Cuban has achieved a home run in MLB before turning 20 years old. We are talking about Zoilo Versalles, who took the fences on August 5, 1959, with just 19 years and 230 days.
Vargas has tried to break through in a highly competitive franchise like the Dodgers and has enjoyed opportunities at various positions thus far. He has not yet fully exploited his abilities, but the team’s management hopes that sooner rather than later he will be able to show all his talent in the best baseball in the world.
