The hit that broke open the National League Wild Card Game on Wednesday night revealed an almost unbelievable baseball postseason statistic.
Brandon Crawford's fourth-inning grand slam for the San Francisco Giants was the first four-run homer hit by a shorstop in the postseason. Ever.
Crawford -- the 24-year-old infielder who has hit 26 home runs in 511 regular season games -- has more postseason grand slams than one guy who most Orioles fans love (Cal Ripken Jr.) and another they begrudgingly grew to respect over a frustrating 20 years (Derek Jeter).
But don't worry, fans. The Iron Man did just fine in his limited postseason career.
In 124 plate appearances in October, Ripken batted .336, had a .411 on-base percentage and .455 slugging percentage.
Somewhat surprisingly for a guy who hit more than 400 home runs in his career, he had just one postseason round-tripper. It came against the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series in 1997.
The Captain -- who played on significantly better teams in New York than Ripken did in Baltimore -- filled up the stat sheet. In 734 plate appearances, Jeter blasted 20 homers and batted .308/.374/.365.
Ripken is already in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jeter will join him in five years.
Yet neither of them -- or anyone else, for that matter -- ever did what Crawford did for the Giants on Wednesday.
