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Willson Contreras must have a thing for making good first impressions. Cubs fans will remember in 2016, Contreras took the first pitch he saw during his first big league at-bat and knocked it out of the park during a game against the Pirates at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs catcher was at it again during last night’s All-Star game. Contreras became the first player in MLB history to hit the first pitch he saw in his career for a HR and the first pitch he saw in his All-Star Game debut for a HR when he took Rays reliever Blake Snell deep last night.
Willson Contreras homer! #AllStarGame #Cubs pic.twitter.com/E9qcSdQ8o6
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) July 18, 2018
Both home runs have more meaning when you take into consideration Willy’s backstory. He left his family in war-torn Venezuela after he signed with the Cubs in 2009 at the age of 17. A year later, he came to the US for the first time and busted his ass learning English as he tried to adapt to a new brand of baseball and an entirely new culture surrounding it.
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He toiled for eight years in the Cubs minor league system before he finally got his shot in 2016 and as you’ve already watched, he made the moment count. He’s still only 26-years-old and has a great career ahead of him that now will include an All-Star selection.
Contreras has built the reputation of wearing his emotions on his sleeve (Pun FULLY intended.) He made national headlines with his reaction to hearing that he’d been selected to be the starting catcher for the National League team and now that you understand his history, I think the reaction was quite fitting.
A couple of first-time All-Stars get the good news. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/QK7MVk96Lx
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 8, 2018
Now that he’s gone through his first All-Star experience, Contreras wants to make sure he takes as many memories from the game with him back to Chicago as he can and what better memory than your first All-Star home run ball?
The only problem is — he can’t find it.
When he was asked if he wanted the ball as a keepsake, he doesn’t know who has it and wasn’t too optimistic that he’d be getting the ball back.
“I don’t think they’re giving it back,” he said with a grin.
I’m not sure who “they” are in this case because I didn’t see who caught it but I think we can help Willy out here. Spread the word through social media and let’s see if we can track this ball down to get back to it’s rightful owner. I’m sure Willy would be willing to part with any piece of signed memorabilia you could think of and besides that, it’s just the right thing to do.
What a great moment for the Cubs catcher.
