Giancarlo Stanton

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Stanton's rise from a high school three-sport athlete to a baseball legend began with a $475,000 signing bonus after he rejected a scholarship to USC. His professional ascent was rapid; after hitting .067 in just nine games for Jamestown, he exploded for 39 home runs and a .993 OPS at Greensboro in 2008. By 2010, he was dominating Double-A with a 1.167 OPS before his debut. His rookie season featured a historic 5-for-5 game against the Washington Nationals on August 11, making him the youngest Marlin to achieve that feat. In 2012, he hit a 462-foot grand slam off Jamie Moyer with an exit velocity of 122.4 mph, the fastest recorded by ESPN's Home Run Tracker at the time. His dominance continued into 2017 when he led all of MLB with 59 home runs, 132 RBIs, and a .631 slugging percentage, earning him the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

In Their Own Story

On May 6, 2010, while playing for the Jacksonville Suns, Stanton hit a home run against the Montgomery Biscuits that cleared the center-field scoreboard, traveling an estimated 500 to 550 feet. This display of power led Mississippi manager Phil Wellman to remark, "He looks like a 15-year-old playing on an 8-year-old's Little League team." A few months later in his MLB debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, Stanton hit his first career home run—a grand slam off Matt Garza—becoming one of only four players in the past 25 years to do so before turning 21. His favorite at-bat came on September 6, 2010, against Roy Oswalt; after thinking he had struck out on a dropped foul tip, he redeemed himself with a 435-foot home run, later stating, "That (home run) I really liked, because that's what made me grow." In November 2014, the Marlins rewarded his sustained excellence by signing him to a record-breaking $325 million contract over 13 years.

Reader's Guide

Fans of Stanton witnessed a unique evolution in his power metrics. In his rookie season (2010), his home runs averaged 399.6 feet with an exit velocity of 104.3 mph. By 2011, he improved significantly, averaging 416.6 feet and 107.4 mph off the bat, hitting the longest home runs at Citi Field (465 feet), Nationals Park (455 feet), Coors Field (475 feet), and Sun Life Stadium (466 feet). In 2012, he hit a 494-foot home run at Coors Field, the longest in MLB since 2009. His consistency was remarkable; in 2013 alone, he opened with a 472-foot blast over the same scoreboard he had cleared in 2012. Statistically, he finished his Marlins tenure as the franchise's all-time home run leader and remains the only active player with over 450 home runs. He was selected to five MLB All-Star games and won both the NL Hank Aaron Award and outfield Silver Slugger Award twice.

Did You Know?

• Stanton's parents divorced when he was eight years old, and his mother named him after actors Giancarlo Giannini and Giancarlo Esposito.
• In 2008, Stanton hit 39 home runs for the Greensboro Grasshoppers with a .993 OPS while being rated as the number one prospect in the Marlins system by Baseball America.
• During his 2014 contract signing, he received $325 million over 13 years, which was the richest total dollar value contract in team sports history at that time.
• Stanton is originally from the Greater Los Angeles region and grew up as a fan of the New York Yankees.