5 amazing facts about Gallo's MLB debut
Third baseman goes 3-for-4 with a homer, 4 RBIs
Highly-touted Rangers prospect Joey Gallo certainly did not disappoint in his Major League debut on Tuesday.
The slugger, who was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, played a key role in the Rangers' 15-2 rout of the White Sox, wasting no time in crossing off a few career milestones along the way. Here are five of the more intriguing facts surrounding Gallo's impressive performance.
• Gallo's debut was unlike any other in the past 100 years in the sense that he became the first player since at least 1914 with at least three hits, three runs and four RBIs in his Major League debut.
Video: CWS@TEX: Gallo belts his first career homer in debut
• It also took the 21-year-old Gallo just two at-bats to pick up his first career big league homer, making him the youngest player to homer in his debut since fellow Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar did so on Sept. 2, 2012, at the age of 19. Gallo, who hit 42 homers in 126 Minor League games last season, is the 27th youngest since 1914 to homer in his first game.
• Gallo is just the fourth player since at least 1914 -- and the first since '99 -- with at least three hits, a homer and four RBIs in his debut. The only others to reach those numbers in their first career game were Mark Quinn with the Royals in 1999, Bob Nieman with the St. Louis Browns in '51 and Merl Combs with the Red Sox in '47.
Video: #THIS: Gallo makes his highly anticipated MLB debut
• Toss in the fact that Gallo also drew a walk, and you have just the second player ever with at least three hits, three runs, a homer and a walk in his debut. The only other player to match those numbers in his debut was Danny Taylor, who did so with the Washington Senators all the way back in 1926.
• Gallo also flirted with becoming the first player to hit for the cycle in his debut, though he ultimately came up a triple shy. Still, he became just the 10th player to pick up three of the four hits necessary for a cycle in his debut. The last was J.P. Arencibia, who also came up a triple shy of completing the feat in that 2010 debut.