A good many bluegrass lovers have been watching Major League Baseball this year with an extra eye for detail, following the career of San Francisco Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge, grandson of Seldom Scene banjo legend Ben Eldridge, and nephew of Punch Brothers guitarist Chris Eldridge.
Well, yesterday Bryce got to be the hero against the Washington Nationals, after feeling like the goat two nights before. On Monday, he came up in the bottom of the 9th inning at home, with two men on base and two outs. But instead of sending the game into the win column, he struck out swinging.
Eldridge told MLB.com he wanted that chance back.
“I wasn’t pleased with how I ended the game,” Eldridge said. “I was talking with a lot of people about that. I was like, ‘I want that opportunity back. I don’t know if I’m going to get that opportunity again for a while.'”
But it happened agin on Wednesday, when the Giants came back from eight runs down to just three in the bottom on the 9th, when Bryce again came to the plate. This time, he took a slider from Mitchell Parker and sent it out over the right field wall.
Here’s how it looked on Giants TV.
Well done Bryce!
And now back to your regularly scheduled bluegrass programming.
