ST. PETERSBURG — Tampa Bay Rays slugger Junior Caminero told the opposing catcher not to throw another fastball — then launched a 454-foot walk-off home run to win Game 7 of the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League championship in January 2025.

Caminero, then 21, delivered the title for his childhood favorite team, Escogido, over powerhouse rival Tigres del Licey in the 2024-25 LIDOM season championship. He revealed the backstory on the ESPN podcast “Sources Tell Jeff Passan,” explaining that he warned Licey catcher Francisco Mejía — a close friend — against letting pitcher Jairo Asencio throw him another fastball after the first one missed outside for a ball.

“If Jairo Asencio throws me a fastball again, look,” Caminero told Mejía. Asencio threw the fastball anyway. “Way gone,” Caminero said, adding that he believed the blast traveled well beyond the measured 454 feet.

What followed was a 56-second home run trot that became an instant sensation. Caminero flipped his bat roughly 40 feet in the air and high-fived teammates before reaching the halfway point down the first-base line. “I blacked out,” Caminero said. “I don’t remember when I ran to the base. If I see the video? OK. But in that moment, when I went to the base, I blacked out.”

Caminero had called his shot before the at-bat even began. Watching Asencio take the mound for a second inning of work, he made a prediction to someone in the Escogido dugout. “If Jairo Asencio comes back … big problem,” Caminero said. When the ball cleared the fence in straightaway center, his reaction was simple: “The game’s over.”

The moment appears to have been a turning point for the Rays third baseman’s career trajectory. Caminero blasted 45 home runs in his first full Major League season in 2025, earning his first All-Star selection. He has followed that with 26 homers so far this year and a second consecutive trip to the Midsummer Classic.

“I think, in that moment, that’s when life started changing for me,” Caminero said. He is heading back to the Home Run Derby for the second straight year.