Bo Bichette’s Home Run Landed Where His Parents Met
Back where it all began
Bo Bichette’s fourth-inning home run against the Red Sox on Tuesday night was a special one for the young Blue Jays star.
Bichette hit a towering shot (40-degree launch angle) over the Green Monster that sailed onto Lansdowne Street. It came to rest just steps from a building that used to house the gym where Bichette’s parents met 30 years ago. Bichette’s father Dante, a four-time All-Star, was in Boston for a series with the Brewers (who were in the American League at the time) when he met his future wife, Mariana, at a Gold’s Gym in the shadow of the Green Monster.
But the story of how the future Mr. and Mrs. Bichette met is a bit more interesting than just two folks catching each other’s eye across a musty gym. It turns out Brewers hitting coach Don Baylor, who went on to manage the elder Bichette with the Rockies, deserves a lot of the credit.
Here is how Manny Randhawa recounts the story in Dante’s SABR biography.
Bichette’s routine while in Boston was to work out at a Gold’s Gym across the street from Fenway Park, just behind the Green Monster. After taking early batting practice before one game, he walked over.
“I walk in, and this girl is walking away from me. And she turns around, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow. I could marry this girl,’ Bichette recalled. “I never said anything to her. I was too scared.”
Bichette walked back to Fenway, where he saw Baylor.
“I said, ‘Don, I just saw a girl I could marry.’ And he said, ‘Did you ask her out?’” Bichette remembered. “I told him I didn’t, that I was too scared.”
Baylor made Bichette walk back over to the gym and ask Mariana out. They celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in 2018.
“God bless him. I owe Don Baylor a lot,” said Bichette of his friend and former manager, who died on August 7, 2017. “He was put into my life for a reason.”
Richard Griffin of the Blue Jays’ media relations team was able to track down the people who found Bichette’s home run ball and retrieve it. Bo signed some autographs in exchange for getting the ball back, according to MLB.com.
The gym closed in late 2012, according to its Yelp reviews. The building later housed a store called Baseballism, but a Google Street View image taken in November 2020 shows the storefront for lease. It sounds like the perfect place for a Bichette Family Baseball Museum, if Bo ends up matching his father’s career.
The best of SI
The lead of Greg Bishop’s story about Alex Smith features Smith walking through how his leg was reconstructed. ... Tom Verducci argues that Jay Bruce’s retirement proves why MLB needs to do something about defensive shifts. ... Can the interest sparked by Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters win save golf in Japan? ... Braves manager Brian Snitker is the biggest fan of Atlanta’s unlikely call-up Sean Kazmar.
Around the sports world
Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be open at 40% capacity for the Indy 500, which adds up to 135,000 fans. ... Ronda Rousey announced that she is four months pregnant and expecting her first child in September. ... The NHL refuted Golden Knight’s goalie Robin Lehner’s claim that the league lied about loosening restrictions for vaccinated players.
What a way to lose a game
Another great finish
This would have been among the best shots in NBA history
Well done, Russ
You’re just making your life harder for yourself!
He made this cooler than he needed to, just because he could
Gotta put a less handsome man in that spot next time
NFL teams continue to find bizarre new ways to overanalyze draft prospects
Is there more baseball in the snow this year or does it just seem that way because last season started in July?
Awesome to see this after his scary collapse early in the season
Mmm, that delicious South Jersey mud
Not sports
Amazon is rolling out palm print payment at Whole Foods. ... The crew of the Ever Given, the ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal, may be forced to remain on the boat for years due to a legal dispute. ... Action Bronson says DMX’s “Ruff Ryders Anthem” played an important role in the birth of his son. ... An Italian man skipped work for 15 straight years and still collected $650,000.
Thanks to the wonders of technology, you don’t even have to wear pants to court
Twins separated at birth reconnected on TikTok
A good song
Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
