Roger Connor is thought to have been the first major league player to smash a grand slam on September 10, 1881. On September 5, 1871, Charlie Gould hit a home run for the Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves) in the National Association (NA), however the NA is not recognized by MLB as a major league. If we exclude the National Association, then Connor's record would still be intact.
Another player who hit a grand slam early in his career was John McGraw. In 1872, when he was only 19 years old, McGraw slammed four balls over the fence in one game for the New York Mutuals. However, it is not known if he was playing for the red stockings or some other team at this time.
The first known grand slam in modern day Major League Baseball was hit by Bill Dahlen of the Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers on May 31, 1931. Before that date, no one had ever done this before.
Today is Bill Dahlen's birthday. He died in 1958 at the age of 70.
Grand slams are very rare - there have been only 26 recorded in MLB history. The last one was hit by José Reyes of the Los Angeles D'backs on April 17, 2012. It is believed that it will not be long before another one is hit because of how powerful baseball has become.
Slam dunk. A grand slam was commonly an inside-the-park home run in the early days of baseball, but that is now extremely unusual. Many teams have hit two grand homers in a single game, but the New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to smash three on August 25, 2011. In that game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Mark Teixeira, Johnny Damon and Bernie Williams each drove in four runs on their way to a 16-4 victory.
The last time the Yankees hit two grand slams in one game was back on August 25, 1999. Mike Mussina was pitching for the Yankees then as they played the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field. He gave up five straight grand slams (four by the Rays and one by Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins) and lost 14 games that season. The Yanks finished last that year with a record of 77-85.
There have been other teams that have hit two grand slams in one game, but they have all done so during exhibition play or in minor league games. The Chicago White Sox are the only major league team to do it twice. They accomplished this feat on April 13, 1953, and April 15, 1955. Both games were won by them, 12-10 and 7-6 respectively. The first slam came in exhibition play and the second one was in a spring training game. Neither player reached base safely that day.
Camarena became only the second pitcher in history to get his first hit through a grand slam. According to STATS, the only other pitcher in National League or American League history to record his first hit as a grand slam was Bill Duggleby, who did it with the Phillies on April 21, 1898. The last time a player had his first career hit scored as a grand slam was October 4, 1993 when David Newhan of the Indians did so against Charlie Leibrandt of the Cubs.
Camarena's shot in the third inning of Camarena's debut game on May 29, 1993 at Rancho Cucamonga caught everyone by surprise because he came into the game with a 1-0 count and none out. The Dodgers were winning 1-0 at the time and Camarena was pitching around a walk issued to Tom Goodwin. This game turned out to be the final appearance of Bruce Bochy as a manager due to health issues. After this game, Camarena was moved to the starting rotation and went on to have a great season finishing with 14 wins and 2 losses with a 3.12 ERA in 155 innings pitched.
Here is how the play unfolded: With one out and nobody on base, Camarena takes the pitch from Leibniz and drives it over the left field wall for his first major league hit. He comes up short of hitting a home run but that doesn't stop him from having a good day at the plate!
Both hits—one by Dalton Jones of the Tigers in 1970 and the other by Tim McCarver of the Phillies in 1976--went over the fence, but the hitter ran past the runner on first base. Because just the batter was called out in both situations, they received three RBIs and a single, but no grand slam. These were the only two grand slams ever hit at Tiger Stadium.
Jones' blast came in an 8-7 win over the San Francisco Giants. The game was tied 7-7 after eight innings when Jones drove a 0-1 pitch from Bruce Kimm's glove up the right field line for his third home run of the season and the winning blow. The ball landed in the stands behind the right-field bleachers.
Tim McCarver's shot in the ninth inning of a 1-1 game against the Chicago Cubs ended an 18-game hitting streak for the Phillies' star second baseman. With one out and runners on first and third, Ron Santo threw a 1-0 pitch down the middle of the plate that McCarver crushed for his third home run of the year and the winning blow. The ball cleared the left-field wall and landed in the trees behind the ballpark. It was the 11th time in 12 tries that the Phils defeated Cubs owner Marge Schott's team.
In addition to these two hits, Jones also scored three times and stole two bases in this game.
Pat Crawford hit a pinch-hit grand slam for the New York Giants in a National League game on May 26, 1929. Les Bell of the Boston Braves also hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the same game, making this the only game in major league history with a pinch-hit grand slam by a player from both team.
A grand slam in baseball is a home run hit with all three bases loaded, scoring four runs—the maximum possible in one play. Josh Willingham is the most recent player to smash two grand homers in a single Major League Baseball (MLB) game.
Vic Raschi works as a pitcher. He collected his first hit, a single, two days later in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, and on April 23, 1954, he launched his first major - home run off Cardinals pitcher Vic Raschi. Aaron rapidly became a significant player for the Braves, winning the National League hitting title in 1956. He played his last game in 1975, at the age of 42, having amassed 2,093 hits in his career.
He is considered by many to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. During his career, he was awarded the National League MVP award twice, in 1955 and 1957. He also won the Golden Spikes Award in 1956. In 2007, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hank Aaron's first major league home run came off Vic Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals. The game took place on April 23, 1954, at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. It was the opening game of the season and the Braves were undefeated when Aaron hit his first home run. The ball that Aaron hit for his first major league home run has been returned to him several times since his death in February 2015. It is on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
Aaron finished his first season with 29 homers and 97 RBIs. He spent the next seven seasons (1954-1961) with 30 or more homers each year, including 55 in 1956.
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