Giants rookie hits MLB homer with Barry Bonds-style bat

Blake Sabol Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Giants rookie cracks first MLB homer with Barry Bonds-style bat

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated Apr 6, 2023 10:11 PM ET

Blake Sabol's favorite player growing up was Barry Bonds. On Thursday, the San Franciso Giants rookie smashed his first Major League homerun using a bat painted to look like the ones Bonds famously used.

After going 1-for-12 over the first five games of the season, Sabol stepped to the plate with his nostalgic bat in the second inning on Thursday, tattooing a solo homerun 434 feet to centerfield off Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn.

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"This year being with the Giants and Barry Bonds being my favorite player, I tried to get the paint job like his," Sabol told reporters via NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic.

This was my first day with it. I only hit it in the cages and during on-field BP. That was my first at-bat with it."

Sabol finished the day 3-for-6 with a long ball and two runs scored.

Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft, the Giants selected Sabol in this year's Rule 5 Draft. This mean that despite Sabo's unforgettable moment, his time in San Franciso is not set in stone. If Sabol doesn't stick on the Giants Major League roster for the entire 2023 season, he could find himself back with the Pirates.

Sabol, for now, is soaking in the chance to play for his favorite players' team, hoping Thursday's big day is the first of many in the city by the bay.

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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