Andy Pages led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a victory over the San Francisco Giants as he provided the game-winning hit with a two-run homer in the fifth inning.
At the time, the Dodgers were trailing 3-2 and had two outs in the inning after the first two hitters failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position. But Pages took advantage of a mistake pitch from Ryan Walker, who left a hanging slider over the heart of the plate that Pages sent 399 feet.
While Pages was happy to provide the winning runs, the homer had more meaning for him as it came on Father’s Day.
“Yeah, it was a great series win against a good team over there,” Pages said through his interpreter. “Great to come through in that moment, but it was a home run hit for my dad, who I haven’t seen in a really well in a long time.”
Pages said he has not seen his dad in two years, and before that, he did not see his father for seven years. Pages said he has a close relationship with his dad, so seeing him just two times in the previous nine years has been difficult.
“He’s the one that helped me in my baseball career,” Pages said. “He is the one that got me to play baseball. It’s a really emotional, really special moment to hit a home run in that situation. Because I haven’t seen him, obviously, it’s really hard at times. But at the same time, it was really special to hit a home run on Father’s Day.”
Pages tries to talk with his dad every day, but sometimes the electrical outages in Cuba make that difficult to do and they can go days without being able to talk. But Pages is hopeful he can talk with his dad to tell him about the home run.
“I’m going to call my dad later and talk to him about the home run,” he said. “I dedicated that home run to him, how special it was, and hopefully we could just chat.”
Dave Roberts happy for Andy Pages
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shared his emotions for Pages and thought how difficult it must be for the star center fielder to deal with on a daily basis.
“I can appreciate it as much as I possibly can imagine it, which for me, it’s unimaginable,” Roberts said. “But I think that really speaks to, yeah, I don’t know how he’s been able to compartmentalize that. So for him to have a moment like that is special.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
