San Francisco Giants Slugger Slams McCovey Cove First at Oracle Park

Heliot Ramos did something no other San Francisco Giants hitter has done when he homered into McCovey Cove.

Sep 15, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos (21) hits a solo home run during the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park. / Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Among the iconic parts of Oracle Park, the home of San Francisco Giants baseball, is McCovey Cove.

Right behind the short porch in right field and a pedestrian walkway is the cove named for the Giants Hall of Fame slugger. For hitters with the right amount of power and pull, sending one to the Cove is a rite of passes for power hitters for every team.

But, up until Sunday, the privilege of slamming one to McCovey Cove had been the exclusive domain of left-handed hitters.

On Sunday, Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos crashed the party.

The slugger, who is enjoying a breakthrough Major League season, hit his first home run into McCovey Cove. The compelling par is that Ramos is the first right-handed hitter to do it.

Before Ramos, as NBC Sports Bay Area pointed out, the previous 104 players to do it all hit from the left-hand side of the plate.

It took 25 seasons for a righty to hit a ball into McCovey Cove 😯 pic.twitter.com/RrS6QuJ0VG

— MLB (@MLB) September 15, 2024

So, what does it take for a right-handed hitter to send one opposite field into McCovey Cove?

Well, a fast pitch helps. Per MLB’s Sarah Langs, Ramos connected on a 100.2 mph pitch. That was the fastest pitch a Giants player has homered off of in the pitch-tracking era, dating back to 2008.

Ramos’ home run traveled 398 feet and had an exit velocity of 103.8 mph. So, a lot of things had to converge the right way for this to happen.

Turns out, earlier this week, Ramos told NBC Sports Bay Area that he was hoping to become the first right-hander to do it.

Mission accomplished.

And, NBC Sports Bay Area did something cool, showing Ramos watch the replay when he realized he had done it.

"I am the man."

Ramos watching a replay of his historic Splash Hit ... narrated by Kruk 😂 pic.twitter.com/62XRaDjf62

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 15, 2024

It’s been an incredible season for the Puerto Rico native, who was the Giant’s 2017 first-round pick but, up until this season, had trouble fulfilling that promise.

Injuries to Jorge Soler and Jung Hoo Lee opened up the opportunity for regular playing time and he’s responded.

In 31 games with the Giants in 2022-23, he never batted above .200. By mid-July this year, he made the National League All-Star team for the first time.

This year Ramos has a slash line of .267/.321/.469/.790 with 21 home runs and 68 RBI.

While in Arlington, Texas, for the All-Star Game, he said something to Giants Baseball Insider that summed up his season to that point, but could have been about Sunday’s McCovey Cove first, too.

“This is a moment that I thought was never gonna happen,” he said. “Honestly, I thought I was going to be in the minor leagues all year. I thought that this moment was never going to get here.”

Now, once again, it’s here.