Mickey Gasper made the 23,303rd debut in Major League Baseball history August 12 when he was 28 years old. For Gasper, for most of thousands of ballplayers who reach the majors, getting there is a lifetime journey in itself. Staying will take another journey altogether. At least one more.
That's why Gasper collecting his first hit Saturday afternoon had so much added meaning -- and importance. It, too, had been a long-time coming. It made him excited, although not for necessarily for himself, but instead as a potential rally starter for the Twins.
Gasper was quoted by Betsy Helfand in the Pioneer Press as saying: "I was excited. I was trying to start an inning, get us back in the game."
The personal significance, too, was not lost on Gasper, who started the day 0-for-2 in his first game of the 2025 season, and the first of the regular season with the Twins. Gasper's 0-fer had been going on a lot longer than that, however.
Gasper started 0-for-18 with the Red Sox when they called him up in August, a few months before the Twins traded for him. Gasper made some hard contact in '24 when he swung the bat, but at best hit only into some bad luck. Teams have a much more comprehensive method of evaluating players than they used to, so going 0-for-18 doesn't mean the same thing that it used to. But MLB is like other pro sports, like other professional businesses: it's a results-based game. Sooner or later, Gasper would need better ones.
If he never got his first hit, Gasper could never get a second, or his first dozen, or a hundred. If he never got a hit, the Twins would replace him eventually, maybe even pretty soon, and Gasper would be sent back to Triple-A. He might not ever get another opportunity in the majors.
That's why he busted his hump down the first-base line after connecting on a 91-ish mph grounder in the hole to shortstop Masyn Winn, who had to dive.
"That's why you run hard down the line," Gasper told reporters as if he were doing a PSA for Little Leaguers. "I always got yelled at by my dad to run hard, so it just turned out wet grass today. Winn made a nice play getting up on his belly and I was able to beat it out."
Dad and mom were there, at Busch Stadium, to see it. Mick Sr. and Livia Gasper, just like they saw every at-bat previously in person. Gasper in fact, got a little tired of being reminded of it by the tablets that teams use in the dugout to review recent plays. In going over the mechanics of Gasper's at-bats in Red Sox games, the video almost unfailingly would shift to the reaction of Mick and Liv, who unfailingly were disappointed if Mickey didn't happen to get a hit. Which had been happening every time.
"I'm trying to look at my at-bat, and I see my parents stressing every pitch," Gasper said. "So I was like, 'I'm... I'm all set. I don't really want to watch that at-bat anymore.' "
That's also why, this time, Gasper was so happy in the moment to come through. And, quite likely, relieved. Cameras showed the Gasper literally sighing with relief. Mick Sr. even appeared to wipe away a tear.
"That's why you play, for them," Gasper told reporters. "All the hours my dad, my mom put in getting me to practices and games, coaching, it's really all for them."
So begins the next journey: Getting that second hit, and ones after that, to keep the dream alive of playing in the majors. If, for nothing else, to give Gasper's teammates more opportunities to follow him into a creating a rally. The Twins could use a rally or two, considering they're 0-2 so far.
The best part for Gasper might be that he can go back to checking the dugout tablet without running into mom and dad getting emotional if he made an out. TV doesn't have to show Gasper's parents every time he comes up anymore. Perhaps just have them ready for Gasper's first home run, when it comes, to be safe.