3+ HR IN A GAME: #648

WE gave you a lot of data about 3+ HR games a while back [June 2nd, to be exact], which included the fact that there were 647 such incidences since the first time it happened (in 1922).

That fact is now outdated. On June 8th, the Guardians' José Ramirez hit three homers in his home park (Progressive Field, one of the stingier parks in terms of allowing HRs...) during a game against the Red Sox--a game that the Guardians won, 10-3. 

Where this opens up further new data is in the fact that Ramirez is a switch-hitter. We covered a number of breakdown facts in our original post, but one fact that we didn't cover was how many times 3+ HR games have involved switch-hitters. 

SO consider this our penance and recompense for not doing a deep enough dive on this in the first place: here goes--

--This was the 38th time that a switch hitter has hit 3+ HRs in a game. 

--The first switch-hitter to do it was, that's right, Mickey Mantle. The date: May 13, 1955. The place: Yankee Stadium. The opponent: the Detroit Tigers. (It was the only time Mantle did it.)

--Pete Rose has done it--April 29, 1978, against the New York Mets...at Shea Stadium, where five years earlier, he'd created a ruckus by decking Mets SS Bud Harrelson during the NLCS, which unleashed Shea's boo-birds--who were likely still in a booing mood when Pete hit the three-in-a-game.

Rose was also the oldest switch-hitter to do it for almost forty years, when Victor Martinez, 161 days older (37 years, 176 days) hit three for the Tigers against the Kansas City Royals. The youngest? The Mets' Jose Reyes (23 years, 65 days), who hit three against the Phillies on August 15, 2006. 

--Any switch-hitters hit four HRs in a game? Yes, Mark Whiten hit four for the Cardinals against the Cincinnati Reds on September 7. 1993. 

--What season had the most 3+ HR games from switch-hitters? That would be 2006, with Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira joining Reyes with the "homer hat trick." We now have two in 2023, so there's some chance that the record will at least get tied this year. 

--What switch-hitter has had the most 3+ HR games? That record is jointly held by Teixeira and Eddie Murray, who each had three.

NOTE that 23 of the 3+ HR games by switch-hitters have occurred during the twenty-first century. And they said they were a dying breed...(switch-hitters, that is: HRs are as common as weeds in a garden).

And note that no switch-hitter has ever had two 3+ HR games in a single season. Perhaps José will be the first. Then again, perhaps not...stay tuned!