At Yankee Stadium, Quebecer Édouard Julien hit his first career hit and home run in Major League Baseball Thursday night. All this in the first round!
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After making his debut Wednesday at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, Julien made an early name for himself with a single as first batter of the game in one of Major League Baseball’s most impressive stadiums. He followed up with a long ball, still in the first inning, in a nine-carry half for the Twins.
Julien and his teammates are in New York to face the Yankees in a four-game series through Sunday. The twins won the first duel by a score of 11 to 2. The Quebecer finished the game with two hits in five official batting, two runs scored and an RBI. The day before he had been limited to a walk in his first game.
“A dream come true,” Julien said during a brief interview with The Journal yesterday. For a very long time, since I was young, I had hoped for this day when I would make my Major League Baseball debut. »
Back on Wednesday, the 23-year-old athlete admitted to going into shock upon entering the Twins dressing room.
“It’s crazy, I was just trying to find my name and number. When I saw Julien and the 47, it was a pretty cool moment,” he said.
Intimidating Yankee Stadium?
Josué Peley, who oversees Julien’s winter training in the Quebec City area, traveled to New York to watch yesterday’s game. He agreed that the idea of seeing his protégé and friend play at Yankee Stadium was special. Despite a hostile crowd, he suspected Julien was busy at the Bronx Bombers hideout.
“Obviously he’s going to be stressed when he’s playing Yankee Stadium, but he can do well on a big stage, as he proved with the Canadian team during the last World Classic,” Peley aptly noted before the role.
“He did a fantastic job,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli of Julien, quoted on the team’s website after Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. He had good bats and made several plays on defense [au 2e but]. He’s consistently on the ball. We expect him to do what he naturally does, nothing more nothing less, and that should help us. »
His own memories
If Peley cherished one particular memory from a previous run at Yankee Stadium, which was impromptu batting practice he was able to partake in during his tenure with the Blue Jays, it was Édouard Julien who had the opportunity to build his memories on him at home for the Yankees and… in games that really matter. It started with his first career hit, then a home run.
“Yankee Stadium is sick,” Peley said. You’ll feel the full history of the Yankees when you’re there. »
Julien writes his own story himself.