Mark Minicozzi, a 31-year-old non-roster invitee in Giants camp, smacked an opposite-field home run in his first Cactus League at-bat on Friday. He looks likely to start the season in Class AAA ball, an injury away from the bigs. And less than two seasons ago, Minicozzi still had to buy tickets to affiliated minor league games.

Minicozzi was drafted by the Giants in the 17th round in 2005, and played three seasons and endured two surgeries before being cut in 2009. He spent most of the next three years playing unaffiliated ball everywhere from Winnipeg to Nicaragua. Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area has Minicozzi’s incredible story:

One day in 2012, after seeing a Facebook update from one of his old managers with the Giants, Dave Machemer, Minicozzi looked up the schedule for the Giants’ Double-A club. Mach and the Flying Squirrels were playing in Reading, Pa., a 45-minute drive from his home near Philadelphia. Spur of the moment, he went.

“I looked up the roster and saw a couple guys I played with,” Minicozzi said. “I thought it’d be neat to say hi.”

He bought a ticket in the third row, got the attention of Machemer and field coordinator Shane Turner, and surprised them when he said he was still chasing the ghost. Turner invited him to take some cuts with the team at the next morning. Bring your stat sheet, bring your bat, and be ready at 7 a.m., he said.

You can probably figure out where it goes from there, but the whole story is worth your time, and a testament to the infielder’s perseverance.

Minicozzi enters play Tuesday having reached base in four of his first six Cactus League plate appearances, with two walks and two hits — including the homer.

(Thanks to Big League Stew for calling our attention to this story.)