Jaime Ferrer, 23, became the first Puerto Rican to hit two home runs in his first game in the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, the Criollos de Caguas announced, citing league historian Jorge Colón Delgado. Ferrer homered off Jonathan Bermúdez and Héctor Quiñones in the Criollos’ 21-7 win over the Leones de Ponce in his first appearance in Puerto Rico’s professional baseball league.
He is only the fourth player in league history with two homers in his debut game, joining Buster Clarkson, who did it with Mayagüez on November 10, 1940; Darryl Strawberry, with Santurce on November 18, 1995; and Travis Hafner, with Carolina on November 24, 2000. Colón Delgado noted that Clarkson hit both of his in the eighth inning of his first game, also against the Leones de Ponce, off Max Manning over the fence and Raúl Acosta inside the park.
Strawberry and Hafner homered in their first two at-bats. Ferrer, son of former basketball player Jimmy Ferrer, is also the 24th player in league history to homer in his first at-bat, and only the fourth Puerto Rican, after Miguel Negrón with Caguas on October 29, 1978; Joseph Calder with San Juan on December 30, 1990; and Orlando Cruz with Arecibo on November 11, 2005. Ferrer belongs to the Minnesota Twins organization.