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It's amazing, really, that it took this long, since the Curve have had a whole bunch of outstanding players over the past 22 seasons.
But it took until season No. 23 for the franchise to produce a 20-20 guy, and the milestone was finally achieved Sunday afternoon by a player that no one would have guessed when the season started.
Andres Alvarez hit his 20th homer in the fifth inning, and made history in doing so since he already had reached 20 steals. Alvarez etched his name into the Curve history books forever with the feat, and helped the team beat Akron, 5-2, before 3,896 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
"Wow, man, I still can't believe it," Alvarez said. "It's amazing. It's been a hell of a ride, and it's a dream come true.
"I didn't even think I was capable of doing this."
Out of nowhere
Alvarez hit a grand total of three home runs in three seasons of college ball at Washington State, and had just seven in his first two seasons of pro ball (six last year).
He wasn't expected to get a ton of playing time entering the season, since the Curve had prized middle infield prospects Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero.
But Alvarez showed power right from the get-go this season and has been a consistent home run threat. He's also an excellent baserunner, with 20 stolen bases while only being thrown out once.
All of his teammates knew he needed just one more homer to reach the cool milestone, but Alvarez admitted he had been pressing a bit of late trying to get it.
"I was pressing and wasn't having the best week," he said. "But I finally got it, I was so relieved. Everyone was so hyped for me.
"I was at a point where I thought I wasn't even going to get here. And then, once I hit that ball, I knew I got it, and I was just excited."
Place in history
The Curve had had stars who could hit home runs, but most of them never really were super fast guys who would steal a lot of bases. Future star Andrew McCutchen had 21 steals in 2007, but he struggled mightily at the plate for a portion of the season and hit only 11 homers.
The 25-year-old Alvarez now has his own place in Curve history as the first 20-20 guy, something that can never be taken away from him.
"It's amazing," Alvarez said. "I didn't even know I was the first until today, and it's such a great accomplishment, and better to do it on a day we get the win."
Stats and stuff
The Curve built a 4-0 lead by the fifth inning. Alvarez went 3-for-4, and Gonzalez went 3-for-3 with two runs.
Alvarez is batting .225 with the 20 homers, 48 RBIs, 20 steals and .801 OPS.
Nick Dombkowski (3-1) won in relief, giving up one run in three innings. Starter Carmen Mlodzinski pitched great, allowing just two hits with five strikeouts and no walks in four innings.
Colin Selby picked up his seventh save.
The Curve pounded Akron on Saturday, 7-1, with Quinn Priester (3-3) allowing just one run on three hits in six innings.
The Curve scored twice in the first and five more in the second to take control of that game. Gonzales hit his sixth homer, and Peguero went 4-for-5.
Coming up
The Curve play six games at Erie starting Tuesday, then will close the season with a six-game homestand against Reading.