Báez's borrowed cleats from historic debut heading to Cooperstown

CHICAGO -- Joshua Báez made history Saturday wearing someone else’s shoes.

Those shoes are now on their way to Cooperstown as a way to commemorate the most historic debut in MLB history.

Less than 24 hours after becoming the first player in MLB history to homer three times in his big league debut, Báez was back at Wrigley Field on Sunday for an encore. He batted fifth and played left field for the Cardinals, still riding a whirlwind that has included three home runs, five RBIs, roughly 30 family members, very little sleep and now some interest from Cooperstown.

And apparently, it all started with Blaze Jordan’s cleats.

When the Cards' No. 3 prospect arrived at Wrigley on Saturday, he didn’t exactly come equipped with a big league wardrobe. Bryan Torres noticed Báez had brought a pair of dirty cleats and white batting gloves for his debut and immediately intervened.

“He said, ‘You can’t go out like that during your debut. You have to look sharp. You have to wear red,’” Báez recalled.

There was only one problem: Báez needed size 12 cleats.

Torres went searching and eventually found a clean pair in Jordan’s locker. He grabbed a red belt from one of the trainers, batting gloves from José Fermín, and Báez suddenly had his debut-day fit.

Torres’ philosophy was simple.

“If you look good, you smell good, you feel good, you play good,” Torres said.

Then he smiled.

“And he was amazing!”

That might be underselling it.

Wearing Jordan’s cleats, Báez homered on the first Major League pitch he saw, sending Matthew Boyd’s 93.4 mph fastball a Statcast-projected 449 feet to dead center. He homered again in the third inning, then went deep for a third time in the sixth, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs in his debut.

By Sunday morning, the borrowed cleats had become artifacts.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame reached out about potentially acquiring some of Báez’s equipment from his historic debut, including the shoes. There’s a fun wrinkle there, too: Torres said “Jordan” is written inside the cleats.

After the game, Jordan realized what that could mean.

“Man, something with my name is going to be in Cooperstown,” Jordan told Torres.

It was announced Sunday afternoon that Báez would donate those cleats to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Hopefully, I can [keep wearing them],” Báez said pregame. “The Cooperstown people, they want to take it, but we’ll see what happens.”

He had planned to wear them again Sunday, assuming they had dried after Saturday’s postgame rain. But seemingly before the series finale, he made the decision to let the cleats live in central New York state.

The cleats are just one piece of the surreal aftermath.

The baseballs from Báez’s first two home runs have been recovered and will go to his home, he said, although the third remained unaccounted for as of Sunday morning. He has barely had time to process everything else.

“I haven’t really slept much in the last 48 hours,” Báez said. “Just enjoying it.”

Manager Oliver Marmol didn't plan on treating Sunday much differently.

“Another day,” Marmol said. “Turn the page, go to the next one.”

That doesn’t mean Marmol has already forgotten what happened. He kept his game card from Saturday, something he reserves for select games, and plans to have Báez’s lineup card signed by his teammates before giving it to him.

Marmol was particularly struck by how Báez hit his three homers: three different pitches to three different parts of the ballpark.

“Fastball, slider, changeup -- you go dead center, pull side and then go backside,” Marmol said. “It’s pretty remarkable. Hitting three is incredible in itself, but then doing it that way on all three different pitches is pretty stupid.”

Now comes the hard part: following it.

Báez got his second look at Major League pitching Sunday, this time against Cubs right-hander Edward Cabrera.

Nobody should reasonably expect another three-homer performance. Then again, nobody expected the first one, either.

Whatever happens, Báez will at least look the part. He can thank Jordan, Fermin and Torres for that.