John Mayberry Jr.’s First Major League Home Run

John Mayberry Jr. made his major league debut Saturday, filling the DH role for the Phillies in the new Yankee Stadium.

Mayberry’s father, a former Big League star himself, was on hand to see Junior belt a three-run homer to give the Phillies a lead that they would eventually cough up when Brad Lidge was roughed up for three ninth-inning runs.

In his third at-bat of the game, Mayberry Jr. again raised eyebrows when he chipped a soft liner into right field and hustled his way into a double. That kind of effort will go a long way toward winning the hearts of the Phillies’ faithful.

The big right-handed hitter came to the Phillies in a trade for another promising prospect, Greg Golson, who is now working his way through the Texas Rangers’ system.

Mayberry was batting .277 with eight homers for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Phils’ Triple A affiliate.

Below is a video of Mayberry’s first round-tripper. It’s not the highest quality, but you can get the idea … be forewarned of some horrible audio problems about 40 seconds in …

And you’ll notice a VERY embarrassing bungle by the broadcast team: They mis-identified a Phillies fan as Mayberry’s dad. Ooops!