Sunday afternoon gave us one of those glorious, off-the-cuff baseball moments that remind you just how weird, fun, and wonderfully human this game can be.
“You ginger f*!”
We’re in the third inning at Fenway Park, and up steps Eric Wagaman, a 28-year-old utility man with a swing that doesn’t always scream “power,” but on this day, oh baby, it had juice. He gets a pitch he likes, unloads, and sends it yard—a solo shot that gives the Marlins a 1-0 lead over the Red Sox. Nothing crazy, right? Just a guy doing his job.
But then came the moment. Wagaman rounds the bases, comes back to the dugout, and who’s there waiting for him? Marlins assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon, who doesn’t just hand him a high five and a “nice job.” Nope. This guy greets Wagaman with a loud, grinning “You ginger f*!**”
Now let’s be clear—this wasn’t a scandal, and it wasn’t malicious. It was just raw, honest baseball. A coach giving his guy a little colorful, maybe too-colorful praise, the kind of banter that lives inside every dugout but rarely hits the airwaves. Shomon said what everyone in the dugout probably thought: “You red-headed maniac, you did it again!”
Back-to-back bombs and a ninth-inning stunner
And Wagaman wasn’t done. He went 2-for-4 that game, and Miami came roaring back in the ninth, plating three to steal a 5-3 win in Boston. Fast-forward to Monday night, and he homered again. That’s back-to-back bombs for the journeyman-turned-secret-weapon. That’s not just hot—it’s sizzling.
But let’s not sugarcoat it—the Marlins as a team are fighting a brutal reality. Monday’s loss to the Cardinals drops them to 59-66. They’ve lost 11 of their last 15. That eight-game win streak from earlier this summer? Feels like it happened last year.
From utility player to unlikely spark plug
Wagaman’s hitting .236 with 41 RBIs in his second year. Not exactly MVP numbers, but when the guy’s launching back-to-back homers and getting colorful locker room love, you’d better believe he’s bringing value beyond the stat sheet.
And maybe, just maybe, Derek Shomon’s bizarre praise lit the spark.
The Marlins host St. Louis again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Let’s see if Eric “The Ginger Bomb” Wagaman can keep swinging his way into more weird, wonderful moments—and maybe a few more bleeped-out compliments too.
