Denard Span‘s mother gave her son some advice:

Denard Span said his mom sent him a text last night telling him to swing at the first pitch more often. His homer today: first-pitch change.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) August 25, 2013

This is right out of the plot line from the movie, The Kid From Left Field. Dan Dailey plays a former baseball player who works as a vendor in the stands of a lousy baseball team. His son is the bat boy. Dan talks strategy with the child, who relays it to the team. He suggests to an aging player (Lloyd Bridges) that he start swinging at the first pitch, since opposing hitters know he takes it and are throwing hittable pitches for strikes. Lloyd goes on a tear, the team starts playing well, and they make the child the manager.

The movie also ended up being realistic about Bridges’s character. Toward the end of the season, the opposition stopped serving meatballs, and his average comes back down. So swinging at the first pitch is the right thing, if pitchers are giving you something to hit. The lesson here is don’t fall into a predictable pattern.

It’s a decent but silly baseball movie. A young Anne Bancroft also stars.