Arkansas Razorbacks utility infielder Hunter Wilson has spent much of the year bolting out of the dugout to put the team's Hog hat on home run hitters and swat them on the backside during their return to the dugout.
Wilson got to wear the Hog hat for the first time all season Friday at a most opportune moment. His ninth-inning grand slam, his first as a Razorback and first in NCAA Division I since March 6, 2015, when he played for Stephen F. Austin, gave the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville much-needed padding in its 8-2 victory over No. 3 Florida at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Teammate Dominic Fletcher ran up to Wilson from behind as he was being interviewed by Laura Rutledge of the SEC Network afterward and exchanged Wilson's ball cap for the Hog hat.
"Well, being the guy who always hands it out, finally getting to wear it for once is like, I'm happy," a beaming Wilson said. "[Carson] Shaddy told me if I ever get one out it's going to be an absolute wild thing, and you know, it was wild."
Can't do the pink
The Arkansas Razorbacks will be without one of their jersey combinations for the near future after a laundering mistake in Athens, Ga., last weekend.
It is customary for the home team to wash the jerseys of the traveling team in their industrial-sized washers, particularly in a case like the Razorbacks, who were not returning to Fayetteville after their series against Georgia last week.
Arkansas officials arranged to have the Bulldogs' equipment team wash their red jerseys, white jerseys and white pants over the weekend. The big problem: They were washed together and the crimson jerseys bled onto the whites, turning them pink.
The Razorbacks have just two sets of jerseys in Hoover, their cream-colored combo, typically worn on home Sundays, and their road grays.
The laundering error was accidental, a UA official said.
A pricey purchase
A Derek Jeter rookie card has sold for $99,100, the highest price ever paid for a modern-day baseball card, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.
Brent Huigens, CEO of PWCC, which conducted the eBay auction, confirmed to ESPN on Friday that winning bidder Adrian Proietti had paid the company for the card.
"In 2008, I was offered a PSA 10 for $25,000," Proietti said. "I passed on it. I think the $99,100 is still a very good deal."
Proietti said the purchase rounds out his obsession for the set, a 1993 Upper Deck SP, that began 25 years ago. Back then, Proietti said he was looking for the Don Mattingly card, but when he got back into the game 10 years ago, he started buying boxes of the set to try to get the Derek Jeter rookie card out of the packs.
QUIZ
When did Derek Jeter make his major league debut for the New York Yankees?
ANSWER
May 29, 1995 (He went hitless in five at-bats against the Seattle Mariners)
Sports on 05/26/2018