PHOENIX — Sam Antonacci can hit it over the fence. The Springfield native hit seven home runs in the minor leagues and one in the World Baseball Classic for Team Italy.
But it just feels right that the first big-league four-bagger for the White Sox’ rookie utility player was of the inside-the-park variety.
“No one was putting their hands up, so I just kept running,” Antonacci said Tuesday after becoming the first Sox player to leg out his first career homer since Kevin Bell in 1976. “[It] kind of exemplifies who I am as a player… I feel like a normal player would just cruise in, standing up at second.
“[I] just wanted the extra base. I wasn’t going to say anything. I was just going to take it,” said Antonacci, a self-described grinder.
And take it he did, after Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. took it for granted that the play was dead when a field attendant touched Antonacci’s grounder down the line. Umpires didn’t stop the play, and although replay video clearly showed interference, they ruled it wasn't reviewable.
