The New York Yankees’ slugger Joe DiMaggio hit the first two of his consecutive three home runs off future Hall of Famer Bob Feller. The trio of round-trippers helps the Bronx Bombers defeat the Tribe, 6-5.
“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game (specifically about his switch-hit home run record) you’ve been playing all your life.” - Hall of Fame Outfielder Mickey Mantle (Ten Time “Member” of the Home Run From Both Sides of the Plate in a Game “Club”)
Mickey Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.
Hank Aaron collected his 3,000th hit, in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the team against which he played his first game. He was the first player to get 3,000 career hits and 500 career home runs. Also during that year, Aaron established the record for most seasons with thirty or more home runs in the National League.
Kirby Puckett spent his entire 12-year baseball career playing with the Minnesota Twins (1984–1995) and is the Twins franchise’s all-time leader in career hits, runs, doubles, and total bases. At the time of his retirement, his .318 career batting average was the highest by any right-handed American League batter since Joe DiMaggio.
Reggie Jackson played 21 seasons and reached the post-season in 11 of them, winning six pennants and five World Series. His accomplishments include winning both the regular-season and World Series MVP awards in 1973, hitting 563 career home runs (sixth all-time at the time of his retirement), maintaining a .490 career slugging percentage, being named to 14 All-Star teams, and the dubious distinction of being the all-time leader in strikeouts with 2,597 (he finished with 13 more career strikeouts than hits). Jackson was the first major leaguer to hit one hundred home runs for three different clubs, having hit over 100 for the Athletics, Yankees, and Angels.
The longest American League game, and tied for the longest major league game by innings which ended with one team winning, was a 7-6 victory by the Chicago White Sox over the Milwaukee Brewers in 25 innings, at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1984. The game began at 7:30 p.m. on the evening of May 8, and after scoring early runs both teams scored twice in the 8th inning; but the game was suspended after 17 innings with the score tied 3-3 due to a league rule prohibiting an inning from beginning after 12:59 a.m.
The game was continued the following evening, May 9, and both teams scored three times in the 21st inning to make the score 6-6; finally, in the bottom of the 25th, the White Sox’ Harold Baines hit a home run to end the contest. Tom Seaver was the winning pitcher in relief. (a regularly scheduled game followed, meaning both nights saw 17 innings played; Seaver also started, and won, the second game). The official time of the entire 25-inning game was 8 hours 6 minutes, also a major league record.
Alvin Dark was hired to manage the San Francisco Giants before the start of the 1961 season and named Willie Mays team captain. The improving Giants finished 1961 in third place and won 85 games, more than any of the previous six campaigns. Mays had one of his best games on April 30, 1961, hitting four home runs against the Milwaukee Braves in County Stadium. Mays went four for five at the plate and was on deck for a chance to hit a record fifth home run when the Giants’ half of the ninth inning ended. Mays is the only Major Leaguer to have both three triples in a game and four home runs in a game.
This mistake cost Lou Gehrig the AL home run crown as he and Babe Ruth tied with 46 HR for the season.
In the first inning with Lyn Lary on first and two out, Lou Gehrig hit a home run into the centerfield bleachers at Griffith Stadium. However, the ball caromed back to the centerfielder. Lary returned to the dugout, evidently thinking the ball was caught. Gehrig was declared out for passing the runner and lost the homer. He ended the year tied for the lead in homers with Babe Ruth.
“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” - Babe Ruth
“Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games” - Babe Ruth
“I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn’t throw it past me, none of them.” - Hank Aaron
As the 1974 season began, Hank Aaron’s pursuit of the record caused a small controversy. The Braves opened the season on the road in Cincinnati with a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Braves management wanted him to break the record in Atlanta, and were therefore going to have Aaron sit out the first three games of the season. But Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ruled that he had to play two games in the first series. He played two out of three, tying Babe Ruth’s record in his very first at bat — on his first swing of the season — off Reds pitcher Jack Billingham, but did not hit another home run in the series. The fence over which Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run still exists outside of Turner Field.
The team returned to Atlanta, and on April 8, 1974, a crowd of 53,775 people showed up for the game—a Braves attendance record. The game was also broadcast nationally on NBC. In the fourth inning, Aaron hit career home run number 715 off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing. Although Dodgers outfielder Bill Buckner nearly went over the outfield wall trying to catch it, the ball landed in the Braves’ bullpen, where relief pitcher Tom House caught it. While cannons were fired in celebration, two white college students sprinted onto the field and jogged alongside Aaron for part of his circuit around the bases, temporarily startling him. As the fans cheered wildly, Aaron’s parents ran onto the field as well.
“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” - Babe Ruth
Ruth signed with the Boston Braves for $20,000 and a share in the team’s profits.
“The Sultan of Swat” was known for his hitting brilliance as he set career records in his time for home runs (714 since broken), slugging percentage (.690), runs batted in (RBI) (2,213 since broken), and on-base plus slugging (OPS) (1.164). Ruth originally entered the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder. He subsequently became one of the league’s most prolific hitters and with his home run hitting prowess, he helped the Yankees win seven pennants and four World Series titles.
Ruth retired in 1935 after a short stint with the Boston Braves, and the following year, he became one of the first five players to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ken Griffey Jr. spent the first 11 years of his career with the Seattle Mariners. In 2000 the Mariners traded Griffey to the Cincinnati Reds due to Griffey’s impending free agency. The Mariners received four players in return, Mike Cameron, Jake Meyer, Antonio Perez and Brett Tomko. Griffey would spend nine years in Cincinnati, but only two of those were not marred by injury. Six times Griffey had topped 40 home runs in Seattle, but he did so only once in Cincy.
Griffey played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for three teams (1989–2010). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. A 13-time All-Star, Griffey was one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history; his 630 home runs rank as the sixth-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (8 games, tied with Don Mattingly and Dale Long).
Although popular with fans and a fan favorite around the league, Griffey was unable to shake reports of petulant demeanor throughout his major league baseball career. Griffey signed lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo (owners of the Mariners); his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute. He currently works in the Mariners’ front office as a special consultant. Griffey is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four different calendar decades. On January 22, 2013, the Mariners announced Griffey would be the seventh person inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. He is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey, Sr.
