O's fan catches Steve Pearce's second homer of the night, goes totally bonkers
Fan celebrates catching Steve Pearce HR
Pop quiz: which member of the AL East Division Champion Orioles leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage? Adam Jones? Nelson Cruz? An incognito Cal Ripken Jr.?
Nope, it's Steve Pearce.
Utilityman Steve Pearce. 31-year-old Steve Pearce. Steve Pearce, who's played for four teams in eight seasons. Steve Pearce, who had never played in more than 61 games in a single campaign before this year.
But despite all of that, right now, he's arguably the most valuable player on the best team in the AL East. In addition to leading his team in the triple-slash categories, he also has the Orioles' highest WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. According to Fangraphs, he trails only Adam Jones in that category.
One of the reasons he's been so good? Timely home runs. Take, for example, this three-run shot from Tuesday evening:
That home run gave the O's a lead they never relinquished, pushing them to clinch their first division title since 1997. On Wednesday, he followed that one up with a solo homer in the third inning and another three-run blast in the fifth:
It's been an unbelievable year for Pearce, and no one has been happier to see it than Orioles fans -- especially the one who got to take that three-run dinger home: