Baseball Feel Good Story of the Day

The years of long bus rides and dingy stadiums finally paid off for one Detroit Tiger farmhand:

But there's really only one story in tonight's 6-4 win over the Royals. Max St. Pierre's.

Long-time Tigers farm hand St. Pierre spent the better part of 14 years in the minors before he got his shot at playing in the major leagues. The 30 year old catcher finally got the call to report to the big club when rosters were expanded on September 1st. But he had to wait till tonight to actually get on the field, getting the start due to Gerald Laird's back issues.

St. Pierre made the most of it.

With the game tied 4-4, St. Pierre's one out, 8th inning single, the first hit of his big league career, was the trigger of a two run rally. After reaching 2nd base, he was pulled for a pinch runner, Brennan Boesch. Ultimately, Boesch scored the game winning run on Jackson's single. The Tigers added an insurance run thanks to a passed ball, allowing Will Rhymes, another long-time farm hand getting his feet wet in the bigs, to score.

St. Pierre was greeted in the dugout as if he had hit a game winning home run, and had a smile from ear to ear. The scene had to warm the heart of even the most jaded of Tigers fans.

So the Tigers got the win. But the win is that much sweeter sweeter because Max St. Pierre will now have his name listed in the database at Baseball-Reference.com...as a major league ballplayer.

I know a guy who has probably spent as much or more time in the minor leagues. Some years ago he was notified that he'd be called up when the rosters expanded but in his last game with the minor league time before heading to the bigs he got hurt. He never made the trip. A heartbreaker, for sure.