NEW YORK (AP) -Jody Gerut donated the bat he used to hit the first home run at Citi Field to the Hall of Fame.
Gerut homered on the third pitch from the Mets’ Mike Pelfey, starting the San Diego Padres to a 6-5 victory Monday night. He became the first player to hit a leadoff home run in the first game at a major league ballpark, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Gerut wasn’t particularly enthralled with the bat.
“You want this? Man, this is a lousy bat, go right ahead,” he told a Hall official after the game, according to the Hall’s Web site.
The ball from the ceremonial first pitch from Hall of Famer Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza also was donated to the Hall, which in addition took a cup full of dirt from the area near home plate.
The game got a 4.65 cable rating on the Mets’ SNY network and was seen by 434,500 viewers, the network said, the highest rating for a Mets home opener on a regional sports network. It topped the 3.9 for the Mets’ home opener against Pittsburgh in 2002.
ESPN also televised the game and its broadcast received a 1.1 cable rating.
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