TAMPA — Jake Mangum figured Sunday was the crazy day.
The one where after waiting most of his 29 years he finally made his major-league debut. Started in rightfield for the Rays (going 0-for-3 with a walk). Shared the joy with his parents and dozens of other family and friends who came down from his native Mississippi. Even broke out the college walkup song he’d be saving for the big leagues: “The Outfield’s Your Love.”
Then came Monday, where all he did was put on a show like no other player ever has in one of the first two games of his career.
Mangum style.
“This is crazy, man,” he said. “This is unbelievable. Still trying to soak it all in.”
Saturday’s callup to replace the injured Josh Lowe marked Mangum’s arrival to the majors. Sunday’s start put him in a box score.
Monday, playing a key role in the Rays’ 6-1 win over Pittsburgh, he made history.
He not only rapped his first big-league hit, but four overall, including a double. He knocked in two runs. He stole two bases. And he scored a run.
“This is all just indescribable. I can’t even wrap my head around it still,” he said. “I thought (Monday) was like less of a whirlwind. And then after a couple hits, I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ ”
Mangum, per team research, is the first player in modern major-league history (since 1901) to have four hits, including an extra-base hit, and multiple steals in one of his first two career games.
He also is the first player in Rays history to have four hits in the game he had his first; and he’s the first to do that in the majors since Joshua Palacios — brother of the Rays’ Richie — did so for the Pirates in 2021.
Mangum started the day with Josh Lowe telling him tonight was going to be his night. Before it was over, he had fans behind the Rays dugout chanting his name as he went to the plate, baseballs in his locker marking his first hit and RBIs, an untold number of text messages to return.
And he was the reason for a funny exchange between manager Kevin Cash and veteran Brandon Lowe.
“I looked at Brandon his last at-bat and said, ‘Man, it’s that easy?’ ” Cash relayed. “And he goes, ‘I guess so.’ We know it’s not. But (Monday), it was easy for (Mangum).”
There is an appreciation around clubhouses for guys like Mangum, who stick it out through disappointments that would buckle others.
Friday he was supposed to be in the starting lineup for Durham in what would have been his fourth season at the Triple-A level for three different organizations — having been traded from the Mets to the Marlins to the Rays in roughly a year.
Josh Lowe’s injury created the opening, and Mangum took full advantage.
“It’s really cool to see him get the opportunity to debut and then put on a performance like he did (Monday),” said Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, who worked five shutout innings.
“That’s something special. I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s worked really hard. And just the longevity and the ability to stay at it, and keep grinding every single day is huge, and it’s going to pay dividends moving forward.”
Mangum’s first hit came when he singled in his first at-bat in the third inning. He got a high-five from first base coach Michael Johns, and a nice ovation from the crowd after the poignant moment of pointing to his parents, Stacy and John, and the other friends and relatives in the Steinbrenner Field crowd.
“I wouldn’t be here without them,” he said. “Absolutely would not be here without them. So I had to point to them.”
His bigger hit came about 20 minutes later, when he delivered a single that knocked in two runs, expanding the Rays’ lead from 2-0 to 4-0.
“I kind of blacked out on the second hit,” he said. “The game was calling to drive a run in somehow. … And just for that ball to get through the infield, it was ...
