OAKLAND — At the young age of 26, Matt Chapman has already accomplished a great deal in the game of baseball.
In his first MLB season last year, the A's third baseman finished 7th in AL MVP voting and won Gold and Platinum Gloves.
But until Friday night, Chapman had never hit a walk-off home run. Not just in the major leagues, but at any level.
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Chapman can now cross that achievement off his list after rocketing a 427-foot solo home run off Indians closer Brad Hand in the 12th inning Friday night to send Oakland to a 4-3 walk-off victory.
"First walk-off homer ever," Chapman smiled after the A's win. "I never thought I'd ever do it, so it felt pretty good. I didn't even know what to do around the bases. I didn't even know what to do with my hands. I was pumped up. That's about as much emotion as you're going to get from me on a baseball field."
Even more impressive than his "Talladega Nights" reference was Chapman's at-bat against Hand. The Indians left-hander had been almost unhittable this season, striking out 24 batters in 16 2/3 innings with a 1.08 ERA entering Friday.
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"This is their closer on the mound and he's never predictable in what he throws," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He's always off-count breaking balls, and at 3-2, you're just trying to battle. He just saw it early enough and put a good swing on it, and because it was off-speed, it sped him up a little bit."
Chapman showed incredible patience throughout the at-bat, taking a pair of fastballs just low to jump ahead 2-0. Hand came back with a fastball and slider for called strikes to even the count at 2-2, before missing with another slider to run the count full.
"(I was) just trying to get on base at first," Chapman said. "Once I got to 2-0, I was taking, just trying to get baserunners on. Then I got to 2-2 and I knew that slider back foot is his go-to pitch, and he threw the slider 2-2 and got to 3-2."
From there, Chapman had to be prepared for the fastball or the slider. He got the slider and did not miss.
"I was still on the fastball, to be honest with you, but I knew (the slider) is his go-to pitch and don't be surprised by it," Chapman explained. "I was just trying to battle and put a good swing on the ball and just get on base. I feel like when I do too much a lot of times, I don't have success. So I was trying to just battle and hit something hard."
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Hit something hard, he did. Chapman launched Hand's delivery deep into the left-field stands, with an exit velocity of 108 miles per hour.
It might have been Chapman's first walk-off home run, but Melvin believes it won't be his last.
"He's got that kind of power," Melvin said. "My guess is you might see one or two more of those over the years."
