Paul Goldschmidt met the Little Leaguer who hit the first home run at Paul Goldschmidt Field
Garrett Sloan was that youngster, who met the slugger after hiting the first home run at the recently dedicated Paul Goldschmidt Field, a Little League yard in nearby Goodyear, Ariz., some 20 miles west via Interstate 10 from the downtown ballpark.
The #Dbacks unveil Paul Goldschmidt Field in Goodyear. #DbacksGiveBack pic.twitter.com/75JPxJDW5P
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 4, 2017
"That's pretty cool," Goldschmidt said when asked what it felt like to meet the kid who hit the initial homer at his own field. "The best part of it is knowing that these kids are going out there and using the field, having a good time. That's pretty neat."
Garrett and his father, Brad, were on hand for D-backs batting practice hours before the late afternoon rematch with the Dodgers on Saturday. Goldschmidt, a four-time National League All-Star with 142 homers in just a little more than five big league seasons, strode over to the club's third-base dugout and offered a big, "hello."
How cool is this? The first kid to hit a home run at Paul Goldschmidt Field meets its namesake. #DbacksGiveBack pic.twitter.com/ijLsoC4unB
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 22, 2017
It was thrill of a lifetime for Garrett, who was joined by teammate Lake Scherting and his father, Gary, the coach of their Little League team named Sting.
The D-backs dedicate and refurbish baseball fields throughout Maricopa County and dress local Little League teams in D-backs jerseys and colors. Goldschmidt Field, which used to be called Falcon Field, is the latest one, having been dedicated on April 4. Goldschmidt hit his first homer of the season that night against the Giants.
It's the 39th field in the "Diamonds Back" Youth Field Building Program. In partnership with APS, the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation and Goldschmidt, the field was given a new scoreboard, fencing, windscreen, sports lighting system and fixtures, irrigation system, sod, stabilizer and more general field updates with additional support provided by local contractors and businesses.
Garrett hit the big bolt there on April 10, a drive to dead center on a 3-0 pitch.
"It was a fastball right down the middle and I just turned on it," said Garrett, like an old pro talking about his epic shot. "It went way out. Over the cars."
His coach noted that the center-field fence is 225 feet away and 12 feet high.
"It cleared it by about five feet, easily," coach Scherting said.
On Saturday, the group was decked out in purple D-backs caps and camouflage uniform tops. Garrett had the brown and tarnished baseball he hit out for the big homer and presented it to Goldschmidt to be autographed.
Goldschmidt, boasting a big grin, quickly obliged. Goldy has his own 18-month-old son, Jake, already learning to play multiple sports, and couldn't have been more pleased as he joined the group by the dugout.
"This is awesome, congratulations," Goldschmidt said. "I like the jerseys, the hats, you've got everything going."
Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Boomskie on Baseball. Follow @boomskie on Twitter.
