Milestones happen all the time. In fact, there are exactly 200 players in Brewster Baseball Association history to have hit 300 career home runs. I bet no one has reached the 300 home run mark with as much flair as Long Beach's RF Lionel Crepin! When it happened it there was barely a mention of it around the BBA community despite fifty-seven thousand Hawaii Tropics fans that were there for the first pitch. It's unclear how many were there for the last pitch. I caught up with Crepin on the Surfers' recent road trip in Portland to talk to him about his historic performance on May 4, 2043.
"I didn't head into that game expecting to hit any kind of milestone," Crepin stated. "I felt good from the get go and it turned out to be a great night for me and my teammates."
"Did you know how many homers you had going into the game?" I asked the 32 year old BBA veteran.
"That's the crazy thing," he exclaimed. "I knew I was sitting at 296 cause it had been two weeks since I hit that one. On top of that I went 0-4 the night before against Hawaii and my average dipped below .200 for the year. It was a low spot for me. I wasn't even thinking about 300, I thought that was a couple of weeks away at best."
Crepin turned on a Jesus Gonzalez fastball leading off the game and #297 was in the books. Crepin wasn't even done with is high fives in the dugout when Long Beach catcher Kelile Komen turned on the second pitch he saw and it was 2-0 Surfers.
The top of the second started out rough for the Tropics. The bottom third of the Surfers lineup loaded the bases with two singles and a walk with Crepin coming to the plate for the second time. On an 0-2 pitch Gonzalez again tried to throw a fastball past him and he deposited it in almost the exact same spot as the first inning homer for a grand slam and a 6-0 lead and HR #298. Long Beach would add four more runs in the inning and take a 10-0 lead into the bottom of the second. A two run homer by Mike Campbell in the bottom of the inning put the Tropics on the scoreboard.
"I thought 'That's it, I'm gonna strike out the rest of the game'," Crepin replied when asked what was going through his mind after the second homer. "I was like go on and take me out, it won't get any better than 2-2 with two homers and five RBI"
Maxime Manceau took the mound in the top of the third for Hawaii and Crepin was again leading off for Long Beach. He wasted no time taking the first pitch from Manceau and sending it 417 feet away for his third homer in three innings, also the 299th of his career. "I remember getting into the box but I don't remember swinging," Crepin explained. "It was just muscle memory...I really got a hold of that one. It's the first time I have hit three homers in a BBA game."
3-3 with three homers and six RBI in just three innings of work! "I wished the ball looked that big everyday," he said laughing. "That day it was huge!"
His next at bat came with great anticipation. He led off the top of the fifth and he was facing the third pitcher of the game. This time he worked a full count but was fooled by an off speed pitch and grounded weakly to the third baseman. "I had seen fastballs all day and finally someone threw me a breaking ball," he said. "I just missed it, he fooled me."
Two innings later holding a 13-5 lead Crepin was leading off an inning for the fourth time today against his fourth different pitcher. This time the Tropics tried to get him to reach out of his comfort zone, nibbling at the corners. Crepin wouldn't budge and he earned a four pitch walk. He would be stranded on second as the inning ended in a ground ball double play.
With a 13-7 lead heading into the top of the ninth Crepin had one more chance to make history. "I was lucky they had scored some runs or I probably would have been taken out of the game," he said. "If we were up 13-0 I would have been in the shower in the ninth and not at the plate." CF Wilson Ford drew a single and that brought Crepin up for the final time. He received a standing ovation from the Hawaii crowd that was so loud the umpire called time and forced him to step out of the box and acknowledge it. "I had never experienced anything like that...especially on the road." he said with disbelief. "True fans of the game, true fans!" After a couple of minutes he stepped into the box to face 23 year old Felipe Lopez, the fifth different pitcher in his six plate appearances. Lopez threw the first pitch in the dirt but his second pitch was right down the middle. Crepin blasted the fastball to straight away center field for his FOURTH homer of the day and his 300th of his career. "The outfielders didn't move their feet." he remembered. "They just turned their heads with it...the centerfielder just stared at the grass! It was an unbelievable feeling, I'll never forget it!"
How many different milestones did Lionel Crepin achieve on May 4, 2043? We will try to count:
Four homers in a game(only happened twice in 70 years of BBA baseball)
Home run in three consecutive innings
Eight RBI in a single game
300 career homers
One thing is for sure, nobody does a milestone quite like Lionel Crepin! I am positive I will not live to see something like this ever happen again in the BBA.
Box score from Lionel Crepin's big day
Lionel Crepin's Big Day
- recte44
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Re: Lionel Crepin's Big Day
Thank you for writing this! It was a truly amazing day for Crepin.
Matt Rectenwald
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Re: Lionel Crepin's Big Day
Definitely a nice write-up. HItting 4 HR's to get to 300 did not catch my eye in the midst of the sim and chatter.
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Re: Lionel Crepin's Big Day
Meant to say this earlier, but thanks for writing this. It's been one of those seasons where I can't get the motivation and time to line up and write as much as I usually do.
Stephen Lane
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Re: Lionel Crepin's Big Day
No problem at all...it was an interesting game that didn't get much attention so I wanted to shine some light on it.
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