Each of these four players has three home runs in a World Series game: Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit a single home run in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 2011 World Series against Texas Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. The blast gave the Cards a 4-3 win and a 2-1 lead in the series.
Pujols is the first player in World Series history to hit three home runs in a game. He joined a group of four players who have done so over the years: Babe Ruth (1927), Jimmie Foxx (1941), Frank Robinson (1974), and Mark McGwire (1998).
Ruth and Foxx each hit two homers in one game. Robinson and McGwire both did it twice. No other player has more than one homer in a World Series game.
The Kansas City Royals had a major league record-tying 27 game hitting streak from September 1-October 1, 1985. The team's batting average during this period was.462. During this same season, the Chicago Cubs' Phil Niekro had a 22-game winning streak.
During his stint with the Cardinals, Pujols hit three home runs in the same game four times. He first achieved it on July 20, 2004, against the division rival Cubs, when he batted 5-for-5 and hit his third home run to break an 8-8 tie in the ninth inning. The last time he did this was on April 19, 2009, when he went 3-for-3 with three homers and nine RBIs in a 16-9 win over the Brewers.
A player can only be put into a game as a substitute if he is not listed on the team's active roster. In other words, a player can't go into a game as a substitute if they aren't available for that game. If a player who can't play because they are injured or suspended comes into the game during extra innings, they can still receive credit for any plays they made before being removed from the field.
In addition to playing first base and left field, Pujols has also played center field and right field. During his tenure with the Cardinals, no one else on the team had even played in more than two games in any of those positions.
Pujols announced his retirement after the 2017 season. However, he returned for one final season in 2018 before retiring for good.
55. (59) On this list, Pujols is the only active player. His two-homer game on May 11, 2019 was the 55th of his career. When he hit his second home run of the game against the Mariners on July 12, 2018, he broke a four-way tie with the three Hall of Famers listed below.
The most home runs by any player in one season is 63, set by Barry Bonds in 2007. If Pujols continues at his current rate, he will be just five homers away from this record.
He is currently hitting.443 (76 for 169) with 31 RBI's and nine doubles over his last 10 games.
Pujols is one of many great hitters that have come out of the St. Louis Cardinals organization, including Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Stephen Strasburg. The Cardinals have won more than half their games every year since 2004 except for 2009 when they finished first but lost the NL Central division title due to irregularities in baseball's new playoff system.
St. Louis has also been one of the best teams in baseball for most of that time period, finishing first or second seven times. In addition to winning the World Series in 2006, they've made the playoffs ten out of eleven years.
Pujols is a six-time All-Star and three-time MVP, who has played for eight different teams in his career.
Hitting three home runs in a single game is an impressive accomplishment, although it is not among baseball's most unusual accomplishments. It happened a dozen times last season, yet it's usually overshadowed by the rarity of a no-hitter, triple play, or even a four-homer game.
Stargell hit 20 or more home runs in 15 of his 21 seasons with the Pirates, and he blasted three home runs in a single game on four occasions early in his career.
The major league record for the most consecutive games in which a player hits a home run is eight (held by Ken Griffey Jr., Dale Long, and Don Mattingly). The National League record is seven, set by Griffey during the 1994 season.
The American League record is six, set by Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox in 1947. Williams also led the AL in home runs that year with 42.
The six-game streak ended on August 5, 1947, when Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hit his seventh career home run. It was later determined that Williams had an injury to his left hand at the time he struck out looking against Charlie Robertson of the Cleveland Indians. With no one out and the score tied 3-3, Williams stayed in the game until the next batter reached base, then left the field without taking any further part in the contest. After his departure, the game continued in an empty Yankee Stadium with New York winning 4-3 in 11 innings.
Williams went on to have another memorable season, hitting.542 with 44 homers and 131 RBIs. The "X-Man" as he was nicknamed due to his stature not matching up with his power, finished two homers behind Griffey for the AL MVP award.
Other pitchers who have hit at least 25 home runs include Red Ruffing, Earl Wilson, and Don Drysdale. In his playing career, Jack Stivetts hit 35 home runs, 21 of which came as a pitcher.
Stivetts played first base and left field for the Boston Bees from 1936 to 1939. As a batter, he used both hands equally well but did not walk much; in those days there were no pitches below the beltier. He had a.275 average, two hundred games played, and 365 RBIs during his career.
As a pitcher, Stivetts' record was 33-28 with a 3.38 ERA. He didn't give up many hits but did not have good control of his pitch. He walked only 102 batters in 445 innings pitched.
After his playing days, Stivetts managed in minor league baseball for several years before becoming a coach at Harvard University. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1974 at the age of sixty-one.
Jackie Robinson broke the color line in baseball in 1947 when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. Before that time, black players could only attend their games dressed in robes or coats because there were no uniforms with colors allowed in those days.
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc.
