It was no ordinary home run at Oracle Park

Welcome to Did it Ledger? the newest feature at the v30 Club. In this series we take a single, noteworthy home run and ask, "Did it ledger?"

The Giants were down a run going into the bottom of the ninth and Heliot Ramos was leading things off. He worked Padres’ closer Robert Suarez into a 3-1 count before fouling off two fastballs. Saurez reached back and fired another fastball at 100 miles per hour, but Ramos didn’t waste this opportunity. He deposited an opposite field home run 394 feet away and the game was tied at two apiece.

There are very few ballparks where a specific type of home run is tracked via digital sign in the outfield. Oracle Park is San Francisco is one of them and the sign’s displayed number signifies the number of Splash Hits hit by Giants. A player tallies a Splash Hit when their home run lands in the water of McCovey Cove just past the right field wall. In the 25 seasons Oracle Park has hosted the Giants that sign had ticked off 104 home runs.1 Heliot Ramos made it 105.

All 104 previous home runs shared another characteristic – they were all hit by batters hitting left-handed. Heliot Ramos bats right-handed. Heliot Ramos was the first right-handed batter to hit one into McCovey Cove. And per local sources, it hadn’t been done in batting practice either. This was a momentous home run.

But did it ledger?

When the calendar reaches September and you have a decent home run hitter playing in a divisional game, the ledger odds are generally stacked against the player. They have likely had multiple opportunities, and it was true here as well. Ramos and the Giants were facing the Padres for the thirteenth and last time this year and Ramos had games against them in 2023 and 2022 as well.

So, did it ledger?

Yes, it was a ledger!

Entering Sunday’s action, Ramos had only accumulated 29 plate appearances against the Padres and never hit a home run against them. Divisional foes seem to be his weak spot as he’s also never hit one against the Dodgers in 69 plate appearances. This type of home run doesn’t reveal itself in aggregations of stats, so Did it Ledger? comes to the rescue to preserve this occasion.

APPENDIX

Other left-handed players who have also hit their ledger into McCovey Cove:

Playing for the Giants (Splash Hit for Giant #, Date, Player, Opponent)

13. 7/8/2001 – Felipe Crespo vs. MIL

47. 7/2/2008 – John Bowker vs. CHC

48. 6/15/2009 – Andres Torres vs. LAA

49. 7/30/2009 – Pablo Sandoval vs. PHI

51. 5/1/2010 – Aubrey Huff vs. COL

53. 7/28/2010 – Andres Torres vs. MIA

54. 8/12/2010 – Pablo Sandoval vs. CHC

62. 9/4/2012 – Brandon Belt vs. ARI

69. 6/8/2016 – Brandon Belt vs. BOS

73. 6/10/2017 – Brandon Belt vs. MIN

74. 7/7/2017 – Denard Span vs. MIA

89. 7/31/2021 – LaMonte Wade Jr. vs. HOU

95. 7/17/2022 – LaMonte Wade Jr. vs. MIL

100. 6/2/2023 – LaMonte Wade Jr. vs. BAL

Playing against the Giants (Splash Hit for Opponent #, Date, Player, Playing for)

9. 4/23/2005 – Russell Branyan (MIL)

11. 7/23/2005 – Carlos Delgado (FLA)

24. 7/20/2011 – Dioner Navarro (LAD)

25. 6/9/2012 – Mitch Moreland (TEX)

32. 6/8/2014 – Curtis Granderson (NYM)

35. 9/9/2014 – Ender Inciarte (ARI)

42. 9/13/2017 – Cody Bellinger (LAD)

44. 8/24/2018 – Rougned Odor (TEX)

45. 9/30/2018 – Max Muncy (LAD)

48. 7/22/2019 – Robel Garcia (CHC)

51. 9/5/2020 – Daulton Varsho (ARI)

54. 5/9/2021 – Jake Cronenworth (SD)

57. 9/3/2022 – Bryson Stott (PHI)

61. 9/11/2023 – Josh Naylor (CLE)