Mitch Moreland’s home run against the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend was more than just an ordinary round-tripper.
The Boston Red Sox first baseman hit a solo shot in the sixth inning of Boston’s eventual 7-2 loss, but he revealed Tuesday his son, Crue, turned eight that day and wanted his dad to come home.
“He said the only thing he wanted for his birthday was for me to come home for the day,” Moreland said on Zoom before the Red Sox’s game against the New York Mets. “So, it was real tough going through that.”
Moreland couldn’t fly home to Alabama and hasn’t seen his family in about a month. So he did the next best thing and hit his first homer of the season for his son.
First homer of the season…
Also serves as a reminder that Mitch Moreland's My Story airs at 5:30 ET 🤩 pic.twitter.com/VNAj3KHRzd
— NESN (@NESN) July 25, 2020
“I felt like that was the next best thing I could give him, was maybe get out there and try to hit a homer for him and let him know I did it for him,” Moreland said.
The 34-year-old got to see Crue over FaceTime after the game, something he was “fired up about.”
“That was special,” Moreland said. “He was fired up about it, too. I talked to him for a while after and he was all smiles with no front teeth. He loved it.”
We’ll see if Moreland can hit his third dinger of the season Tuesday night when Sox’s game begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.
