The Game and 50 Cent’s smash hit “Hate It Or Love It” blasted from the Mets clubhouse speaker following the team’s series-clinching 10-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
After all, on this night, rookie outfielder Nick Morabito was the underdog on top.
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Morabito made his MLB debut on May 19, but after going hitless in his first 11 career at-bats, he was sent back down to Triple-A Syracuse just a week later.
He was called back up to the bigs by the Mets on Sep. 1, which is when all rosters across the MLB expanded from 26 to 28 players.
Morabito — who was inserted into the game in the sixth inning as a pinch-runner for Mark Vientos — finally notched his first MLB hit in the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded. He drove in all three baserunners with a double down the left-field line, extending New York’s lead to 9-4.
“I’m glad to get my first one out of the way, I’d by lying to say it wasn’t weighing on me,” Morabito admitted to reporters in the clubhouse. “There’s some relief there, for sure, but I still feel every time I get into the [batter’s] box, I’m confident I can get on base.”
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The very next inning, playing in left field, Morabito visited that same foul line where his first big league hit landed, reeling in a line drive with a superb diving grab.
Mets interim manager Andy Green “wasn’t surprised” by Morabito’s web gem, but admitted that “it’s special when everyone gets to see it” at the MLB level.
Meanwhile, Morabito himself, his face soaked from the water bottle shower he received from his teammates, did his best to play it cool after his big night.
“It was amazing,” Morabito said of his breakout performance in his on-field postgame interview. “The guys were all giving me high-fives and hugs… it felt great.”
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Morabito was then asked what he was going to do with the baseball he knocked for his first career hit, which was given to him after it was authenticated in the dugout.
“I’m probably going to give it to my parents,” he responded.
After the game, Green called Morabito “a plus-baserunner, a plus-defender, and a guy who can put the ball in play.”
He certainly looked the part on Wednesday night.
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