Joe Burrow celebrates after hitting Reds batting practice home run
Joe Burrow must’ve felt like a teenager again when he got the chance to stand in the cage and hit batting practice with the Cincinnati Reds.
And the Bengals quarterback didn’t do a couple of ceremonial swats. No sir, he had 100 swings, Wednesday, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. He looked every bit the part of a Major League slugger, hitting four home runs, including consecutive sweet shots that cleared the left field fence.
Joe Burrow was part of a contingent of Bengals who hung out on the baseball field before the Reds played host to the Dodgers. Joe Singley, a Reds assistant, was throwing the pitches in BP. We’re not sure if he let up against the quarterback. Reports suggested that Burrow had hits to all parts of the ballpark.
“I was coaching him up,” Reds second baseman Jonathan India told reporters. “I was telling him to get the [bat] head out. Looked low in the zone. He hit two homers back-to-back.”
After his final homerun, Burrow took one more swing. He fouled it off the top of the cage and then took a seat. “OK, that’s good,” the quarterback said.
Joe Burrow was quite the baseball player until high school
So what other Bengals besides Joe Burrow pulled baseball duty? Reds pitcher Grant Ashcraft showed offensive tackle La’el Collins how to properly grip the ball to throw a cutter. Defensive tackle B.J. Hill showed off at shortstop. Big Orlando Brown, the Bengals newest offensive lineman, wore an India jersey and joined in the fun.
“I said I would try (Brown’s jersey) on but it wouldn’t fit me. It’s too big. It would be all the way to my knees,” India quipped.
And the Reds third baseman was particularly impressed with seeing all the Bengals on his home turf.
“That’s awesome,” India said. “I got to see them on their field when I went to the playoff game. It’s just cool to share that.”
Joe Burrow, who threw out the Reds first pitch on Opening Day 2022, looked the part of a baseball player. He was a multi-sport star at Athens High School, which is about a two to three-hour drive from Cincinnati. Of course, there was football. He also starred in basketball. And yes, he played baseball. He hit third or fourth (clean-up) in the lineup. And he played center, shortstop and pitched. However, he was a big fan of the Yankees (don’t tell the Reds).
One of his former high school teammates recalled the quarterback’s talent on the diamond.
“Baseball was the big sport when we were younger,” Adam Luehrman told Bengals.com. “We played it the entire summer growing up. He stopped playing when we got to high school, but we played it every summer from the summer he moved there (second grade) until we were like 14. He was good. (And) he could hit.”
And Joe Burrow proved that this week.