Pirates Fire Back at Dodgers Star for Hijacking Rookie’s Spotlight With Epic Response

Cam Devanney probably thought about quitting baseball a thousand times because after grinding for six years in the minors with a batting .272/.366/.565 with 18 home runs, and switching his position from shortstop to first base because Bobby Witt Jr plays there, he never got any chance. The Kansas City Royals even called him up on July 8, only to trade him to the Pirates without ever playing, just after a week.

So when the 28-year-old rookie finally hit his first single off Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan in his third big league game, to the left, on Wednesday night, it was precious. But this moment quickly turned into a controversy when the Pirates’ dugout immediately signaled for the milestone ball, and the pitcher performed some tricky handwork to throw the same new ball, keeping the milestone ball.

The very next day, the Pirates organization used their PNC Park jumbotron for some epic trolling during their series finale. A graphic of a “WANTED” poster featuring a picture of Emmet Sheehan popped up with a headline: “GIVE THAT BALL BACK.” And the text playfully explained the crime: “HE COLLECTED HIS FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HIT IN THE SECOND INNING OF LAST NIGHT’S GAME ON A LINE DRIVE SINGLE TO LEFT.”

The whole thing started when media figure Ben Verlander spotted the incident and tweeted about it on X with a clip of the event. The tweet read: “It appears Emmet Sheehan just intentionally kept the first MLB hit ball for Cam Devanney. The team asked for the ball. The umpire threw Sheehan a new ball, and he clearly switched it in his glove.”

The video of the event clearly showed he got a new ball from the umpire, and he then seemed to swap it in his glove, keeping Devanney’s milestone ball. He tossed the new one aside. About which Sheehan said after the match, “I had no idea. I liked the ball I was throwing with, so I tried to keep it. And I had no idea that was his first hit.”

But the fans with eagle eyes show no mercy and label Sheehan a “scumbag” for his move.

After the game, the Dodgers pitcher insisted it was a huge misunderstanding.  Sheehan said, “I’m going to try and find Cam tomorrow and apologize and figure out a way to make it up to him. But, yeah, it was completely unintentional.”

Devanney, meanwhile, knew nothing about the incident, said, “I’m not entirely sure what happened. I just found out moments ago. I think I did get the right one.”

But Sheehan’s incident isn’t the first of its kind in baseball

A very similar incident happened on August 18, 2023, when Pete Alonso threw St. Louis Cardinals rookie Masyn Winn’s first hit ball into the stands. The Cardinals’ dugout was furious, and so was the fan. Alonso was immediately sorry for his mistake and apologized to Winn on the field right away, and later said, “I feel horrible. I feel like a piece of crap.”

Luckily, security got the ball back from a fan, and to make things right, Alonso sent Winn an autographed bat and a bottle of Don Julio 1942 tequila, and Winn accepted the apology and said the whole thing was “quite funny” once he got his ball.

In the now-famous game, Sheehan only pitched because Shohei Ohtani was scratched right before the start, feeling “under the weather.” Sheehan took his place and gave up 2 runs in 5 hits in his 4.2 innings, in the Dodgers’ 0-3 loss.

And the next day, the Bucs completed the three-game sweep, defeating the Dodgers 5-3 in the game featuring the jumbotron jab. Pirates ace Paul Skenes was brilliant, earned his 10th win, and completed a scoreless 6 innings, striking out 8 batters. And after that recent series loss, the Dodgers have a two-game lead ahead of their rival San Diego Padres, in the NL West division with a 78-62 record.