Astros’ Ronnie Dawson and the ‘best hit I ever got’

It was a motion Ronnie Dawson has completed thousands of times, yet this swing carried extra emotional weight. Leading off for the Astros against the Tigers in the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park, Dawson connected with Alex Lange’s fastball for an opposite-field single.

Dawson celebrated his first hit in the majors with a fist pump on his way to first base. Upon reaching the bag, he clapped enthusiastically, dapped up the Astros’ first base coach and brought a finger to his lips then toward the sky — a grateful gesture that could have doubled as an attempt to quiet the roaring crowd and his own thumping heart.

The Astros fell to the Tigers 6-4, but you’d be hard-pressed to know that from the way Dawson’s smile beamed after the game, illuminating the somber postgame mood like headlights on a dark night.

“That was the best hit I ever got, man,” he said. “The feeling, all the hard work from the years past, all the times that you’re in the minor leagues and you’re like, ‘Man, are you ever going to get a chance to be up there?’ That hit, all that, all those thoughts, all those feelings — kind of just walked away, and it was like, ‘All right, it’s time to play.’ I got the first one out the way.”

After a good night’s sleep, Dawson awoke Wednesday morning prepared to spend the day like the previous 1,761: as a minor league ballplayer. He arrived at the Astros’ alternative site, Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, ahead of a scheduled 1 p.m. exhibition game and went about his routine working out and swinging in the cages.

Then Class AAA Sugar Land Skeeters manager Mickey Storey called in Dawson and a few other players to deliver the news: They were being called up and needed to get to Houston, stat. Soon after, Dawson’s fiancée called to tell him he was in the Astros’ lineup as the designated hitter.

“It kind of all blurred, honestly,” Dawson said. “From there, it’s just like just come and hurry up and get down there from Corpus. That’s what I was doing. It’s just kind of surreal, and it’s exciting, and I really can’t explain it.”

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Houston Astros Ronnie Dawson (31) smiles on first base after being walked by Detroit Tigers Jose Cisnero during the ninth inning of an MLB baseball game at Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

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Houston Astros designated hitter Ronnie Dawson (31) gets his first major league hit off of Detroit Tigers Alex Lange during the seventh inning of an MLB baseball game at Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

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Detroit Tigers first baseman Jonathan Schoop (7) congratulates Houston Astros Ronnie Dawson (31) standing on first base, after getting his first major league hit off of Detroit Tigers Alex Lange during the seventh inning of an MLB baseball game at Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

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Houston Astros designated hitter Ronnie Dawson (31) warms up before the first inning of an MLB baseball game at Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Wednesday, April 14, 2021.

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It’s a story that is in a way uniquely 2021: The MLB’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols sent five Astros players to the injured list and gave a 25-year-old the opportunity for his first big league start. In another way, though, Dawson was simply living out a dream as old as baseball itself.

He went 1-for-3 at the plate in his debut with the seventh-inning hit plus a walk and two runs. His walk in the final frame helped start a flurry of late action for the Astros, who loaded the bases with a chance to rally for the lead. The rally fell short, but Dawson was the final run to cross the plate.

“We’re all excited,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “The players on our team gave him the ball, and he’ll never forget that. He’ll never forget who it was off of, never forget what it was, and that’s big for your confidence. And he got a big walk to lead off the ninth inning. So he contributed a couple of times today.”

Dawson will likely get a few more chances in the near future as the Astros, who begin a three-game series at Seattle on Friday night, continue to be without a handful of regulars for an undetermined amount of time.

Because the 2020 minor league season was canceled because of the pandemic, Dawson hadn’t played in a game since Sept. 2, 2019 — when he batted leadoff for the Round Rock Express, the Astros’ former AAA team, one spot ahead of outfielder Myles Straw.

Dawson said playing in front of fans Wednesday, even a limited capacity crowd at Minute Maid Park, was an exhilarating experience.

“Oh yeah, I was real nervous,” he said, laughing. “Hopefully, I played it off good.”

danielle.lerner@chron.com

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