Former MLB player Brandon Laird scored a sweet prize on Tuesday in Japan.
Laird, who led Nippon with 34 home runs last season, homered at the Tokyo Dome Tuesday, and his ball hit a Kirin Beer sign. By homering off the sign, Laird won a year’s supply of beer and $10,000.
“I think it’s pretty cool when they tell you if you hit the signs you get a prize like that,” Laird said via the Japan Times. “To actually do it in a game was pretty cool.”
He says he plans to put the prize money to his home in Arizona, though he’s offering the beer out to others to drink.
Laird, 28, is from Orange County, Calif., and hit six home runs during three separate MLB stints with the Astros and Yankees. It’s nice that he’s found a home in Japan -- and such a rewarding one at that.
Didn't some of the old ML fields (I know our local union league diamond did.) have signs that said, "Hit this sign and win .... " or "Get a free suit"?
EDIT: checked google images and found one for Ebbetts Field ... "Win a suit" ... just below the scoreboard.
