Someone Missed Winning $100K On Mookie Betts’ Home Run By One Pitch

Mookie Betts’ 13-pitch at-bat that ended in a grand slam was a thing of beauty. But at least one Boston Red Sox fan out there was hoping the at-bat could have lasted one more pitch.

Betts outlasted Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ on Thursday night, blasting a go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning of Boston’s eventual win. The moon shot came at the end of a long, grueling at-bat in which Betts had to foul off some tough offerings from Happ.

It was an unusually long inning for Happ, who threw nearly 50 pitches in the frame. The home run came not only on the 13th pitch of the at-bat, but also the 98th pitch of the game. Had it come on the 99th pitch, one fan would have woken up nearly $100,000 richer.

WEEI, the flagship radio station of the Red Sox, runs a contest where one fan each game has the chance to win $99,999 if the Red Sox hit a grand slam on the 99th pitch. Unfortunately for whoever that person was, Betts’ grand slam came one pitch too early.

Ouch. At least they got a gas card!

Assuming that person was a Red Sox fan, they’re probably happy to see Betts hit such a dramatic home run, but we’ll understand if they were just slightly less excited than everyone else on Friday morning.

(h/t to Twitter user and @NESN follower @joker69_man for pointing this out)