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Ronald Acuña Jr. broke a Mickey Mantle postseason record but didn't know who Mantle was

Ronald Acuña Jr., welcome to October baseball — and the history books.

The Atlanta Braves star rookie, still just 20 years old, became the youngest player in MLB history to hit a grand slam in the postseason. He took Los Angeles Dodgers starter Walker Buehler (himself a rookie) deep in the second inning of the Game 3 of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park in Atlanta.

The timing was pretty good for Atlanta. The Braves returned home down 0-2 in the series and didn’t score a run against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Acuña gave them four in a single swing. It came after Buehler walked in the Braves’ first run of the series — a bases-loaded walk he’ll surely regret to Braves pitcher Sean Newcomb, which allowed Acuña to even get to the plate.

The Braves eventually won the game 6-5 to stay alive in the postseason. They’d need another big homer by Freddie Freeman to do it, but they wouldn’t gotten there without Acuña’s blast.

Ronald Acuña Jr. became the youngest player in MLB history to hit a grand slam in the postseason. (Getty Images)
Ronald Acuña Jr. became the youngest player in MLB history to hit a grand slam in the postseason. (Getty Images)

Acuña hit 26 homers in 2018 in 111 games with the Braves, while hitting .293/.366/.552. He’s in the running for NL Rookie of the Year with Washington Nationals‘ outfielder Juan Soto.

So who held the record for youngest postseason grand slam before Acuña? This is pretty cool: It was Mickey Mantle, who at 21 hit a grand slam in the 1953 World Series.

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Acuña said after the game he didn’t know who Mickey Mantle was. That might shock some older fans of the game, but it makes a little more sense once you consider Acuña was born in 1997 in Venezuela. Mickey Mantle probably wasn’t a hot topic of conversation.

It’s not bad company for Acuña — even if he didn’t grow up hearing stories about Mantle. More important than both of those things, his blast helped keep the Braves alive in the postseason.

They’ve still got quite a challenge ahead, but a few more Acuña homers could help.

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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