Local Shoemaker MacPherson

30 years ago today, I made my Major League debut in Montreal. I got to Olympic Stadium so early they had to find someone to let me in the clubhouse because it was locked.(noon for a 7:30 game) I walked into my first Big League clubhouse and it was just me, all alone. No players, no coaches, no clubbies. I saw my Expos #7 jersey with Santangelo on the back hanging in my locker. It was a surreal moment. I was by myself, finally in a major league clubhouse, with a moment to reflect on how hard I had worked and how much I had sacrificed to get there. After about 15 minutes, my manager Felipe Alou walked in and came right to me in my locker and said congratulations. He then, as the story goes, went and wrote my name in the lineup saying “the kid is here early, he’s more ready than anyone in that clubhouse.” I hit 8th that night and started in left field. I went 2 for 3 with a triple from the right side for my first big league hit and a single from the left side. I learned after I retired that it was supposed to be a 3-day call-up as a reward for being in the minors for 6 years. I turned that 3 days into 7 years. Since that day I’ve been early to everything because you just never know. Happy anniversary to me. 30 years later the whole thing still seems like a dream, like it never happened. But it did! And I’m proud of that…