The Top 12 Moments of 2012: #1. Hulett Pitches, Homers

Infielder Tug Hulett turned a 14-1 IronPigs loss into a night to be remembered

1. Infielder Tug Hulett Pitches Scoreless 9th Then Hits Home Run (June 30)
We've finally reached the #1 moment in our countdown of the best from 2012. To me, this was the #1 moment of 2012 for three reasons:

First because it was on the field.
Second, it was humorous.
Finally, it involved the IronPigs winning.

On the night of June 30, 2012 things did not go well for the IronPigs. Starter Pat Misch allowed 9 runs on 13 hits over 5 innings and the PawSox got five more off relievers David Purcey and Justin Friend. At the 7th inning stretch, it was 14-0 Pawtucket.

Friend would get through the 8th without surrendering another run, but he couldn't go back out there for the 9th having just been called up from Reading that day. Down 14, Sandberg didn't want to waste another pitcher.

So out came infielder Tug Hulett, who unsurprisingly had never pitched before in his career, for the top of the 9th. Hulett proceeded to strike out Che-Hsuan Lin, get Ryan Lavarnway to groundout, and Mauro Gomez, one of the best hitters in the IL, to line out.

If that wasn't amazing enough, Hulett, up second in the bottom of the 9th, hit a home run to break up the PawSox's shutout and cap-off a performance that will be remembered throughout the history of the franchise and earn him the top spot in our countdown of the best moments from 2012.