A's Corban Joseph revels in hitting his first MLB homer as 30-year-old

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OAKLAND -- When Corban Joseph got back to the clubhouse and checked his phone, he had nearly 100 text messages.

"It's going to be a while before I can return all those texts," he laughed.

The A's second baseman had just hit his first career home run, helping Oakland to a 7-6 win over the Houston Astros.

"It's kind of a relief, to be honest," Joseph said. "It almost seems like every time I got an at-bat earlier in my career, it was off a closer. So (it was nice) to actually kind of get a couple of ABs and relax a little bit."

It's been a long and sometimes frustrating road for the 30-year-old. After making his major-league debut with the Yankees in 2013, Joseph didn't get another big-league opportunity for five years, lingering in the minor leagues without a real opportunity.

This past offseason, the A's added Joseph in the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 Draft from the Baltimore Orioles. On Wednesday, Oakland selected his contract from Triple-A Las Vegas and inserted him right into the starting lineup.

"The guys really embraced him here," said A's manager Bob Melvin. "He really earned his way here after a long time."

Joseph went 1-for-4 with an RBI in his first game, a 9-5 win over the Giants. Then came Thursday's long ball.

"Just getting that ball off the barrel, I kind of blacked out there a little bit," Joseph said. "The crowd woke me up a little bit. I'm just really excited to be a part of a big win."

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Joseph certainly picked the right night to hit his first big-league homer, as his wife and children were there to witness it, along with his father and wife's parents. He was also able to retrieve the ball and plans to give it to his wife Emery.

"I gave my first hit to my mom," Joseph said. "My wife definitely deserves something of extreme importance for what she's done. She's grinded through it just as much as I have, so I think that's a good place to go to."

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