After recording 500th strikeout, Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara got a gift: A beer throne
Sandy Alcantara walked into the Miami Marlins’ clubhouse on Friday, turned right and saw a gift waiting for him after hitting a milestone a night earlier.
Directly in front of his locker: A collection of Budweiser beer stacked in the form of a throne.
“Every king needs his throne,” the Marlins wrote in an Instagram caption of a post displaying Alcantara with the beer.
Alcantara recorded his 500th career MLB in the sixth inning of the Marlins’ 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants to begin a four-game series.
Budweiser decided to reward Alcantara with “500 buds for 500 strikeouts,” as a sign read just to the side of the beer throne, with the second 500 written in a design that lists all the players Alcantara struck out to get to the milestone.
However, there were much more than 500 beers present. The throne was made of 21 sets of 24 packs — 504 total — that were encased in Marlins branding along with at least 300 more tall boys to round out the creation.
Alcantara said postgame Thursday that he didn’t realize he hit the milestone in the moment and was wondering why his teammates were asking for the ball to be sent to the dugout.
“I’m not a high-strikeout guy,” Alcantara said.
He is one of MLB’s top pitchers. Alcantara leads the majors with 74 2/3 innings pitched and is fourth with a 1.81 ERA (second in the National League) as he begins building his case to earn his second career All-Star appearance and put his name into consideration for the National League Cy Young Award. He is on a five-game stretch in which he has tallied a 0.69 ERA (three earned runs in 39 innings) with 45 strikeouts against eight walks.
“I’ve said it many times when Sandy’s pitching: It’s like he’s playing catch at 98 [mph], and it’s just easy,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Not that it’s still not stressful on his arm and everything else, but I think the way he takes care of himself, the way he prepares, is special.”
New in-game celebration
Recently when Marlins players record a big hit, they have been signaling to the dugout with a hand motion that resembles hands on a steering wheel.
What’s the story behind that?
“We’re driving a car now that hopefully is gonna take us to a good situation,” shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “It’s a Mercedes car. We’re driving a really nice car, so it’s gonna be a big car.”
After a May to forget, one in which the Marlins had an MLB-worst 7-19 record, anything to shift momentum is welcomed.
“We haven’t been playing good to be honest with you,” Rojas said. “I feel like we need to turn this thing around. ... We’ve got a long way to go.”
Luke Williams’ role
With both Brian Anderson (back spasms) and Joey Wendle (right hamstring strain) on the injured list, the Marlins are calling on a variety of position players to fill out their roster.
One of those is Luke Williams, who they acquired in a trade with the Giants on May 26.
The Marlins are the third organization Williams has been part of this year. He was designated for assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies, who drafted him in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft and with whom he made his MLB debut last year, before being picked up by the Giants. Williams played in eight games for San Francisco before then being DFA’d again and acquired by the Marlins for infielder prospect Hayden Cantrelle.
“Never thought I’d have the year I’ve had so far,” Williams said. “I’m grateful to keep playing. It opens your eyes to a lot of different things in baseball.”
Williams has played in three games for the Marlins so far, starting once at third base and left field and coming in as a pinch-runner in the other outing.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 5:41 PM.
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