Belated Congratulations To Matt Mangini

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Greg Halman and Matt Mangini both had the days of their professional lives yesterday, as they got to make their Major League starting debuts. And Mangini's day was a little bit brighter, as he also picked up his first-ever Major League hit.

Kevin Gregg isn't some lockdown bullpen ace or anything, but he's a decent pitcher, and he had Mangini in a 1-2 count before he let an outside cutter get a little too much of the plate. Mangini stayed with it, laced it to straightaway center field, and then immediately came out of the game for a pinch-runner after reaching first base, allowing him an opportunity to sit back in the dugout and begin letting the reality of it all sweep him over. I suppose you could argue that it gave him an opportunity to sit back and cheer his team on to win the game, but, let's be serious.

You can watch the video highlight of Mangini's single here, or you can proceed for some .gifs that show the exact same thing, only smaller, and without sound. Delight in his awful, awful helmet hair. Just awful.

Way to go, Matt. Chris Carter didn't get his first big league hit until his 12th big league game. Took Ryan Klesko until his 15th game. Pity poor Lou Camilli, who needed 36. Pressure's off now.