One of the Rarest of Baseball Feats! The Four Home Runs in One Game Club!

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 One of the Rarest of Baseball Feats:” Four Home Runs In One Game!

Yesterday was an historic day in baseball history…so we at Old-Time Baseball Photos can’t let the day go by without commemorating the event!

Writers of the Sporting News once described what happen yesterday as “Baseball’s greatest single-game accomplishment”. It’s so rare that no player has ever done it more than once. 

What happened last night has occurred only 16 times previously in all of baseball history. It’s much rarer than a No-Hitter (288 times), or a Cycle (309 times). In fact it’s even rarer than a Perfect Game (23 times). The only two feats I can think of that are in the same “league” – so to speak – are Unassisted Triple Plays (14 times), and the rare Natural Cycle (14). So what was it?

In a game between the Reds and the Cardinals last night, Reds utility infielder Scooter Gennett became only the 17^th player in major league baseball history to hit four home runs in one game!

Not exactly known as a slugger, Gennett had hit only 38 home runs in his career in 502 games, an average of 12.2 per year. He entered the game with an 0-19 streak, with three home runs in 111 at-bats for the season. His slash line before last night’s game read .270/.308/.450. After his 5-5 night with four home runs, a double, 10 RBIs, and 17 total bases, it was now .302/.336/.578. That’s quite an improvement over one game. It also means he hit almost 10% of his career home runs in one game!

But there’s more…

Gennett is one of only two members of this exclusive club to hit a grand slam as one of the four homers. The only other player to accomplish this is Mark Whiten in 1993.

In the long history of the Reds, going back to 1876, Gennett is the first Reds’ player to accomplish the feat. Just think of all the great Reds sluggers you can name off the top of your head! As a matter of fact, eliminating expansion-era teams and just considering the original 16 teams of the National and American Leagues, the following teams have never had a player hit four homers in a game: Cubs, Senators/Twins, Pirates, Red Sox, Browns/Orioles, Tigers, and Athletics.

No player has ever hit five homers in a game (although Mike Cameron came very close. His last at-bat was fly out to the warning track, which I remember because I saw the game).

In the nice featured photo above, we see the great Hall-of-Famer Lou Gehrig together with Bobby Lowe. At the time the photo was taken in 1932, they were two members of an exclusive three-man club: Lou was the third player to hit four homers in one game, while Bobby Lowe was the first.

Here’s the complete list of the players who have accomplished this rare feat, which includes five Hall-of-Famers.

Before Scooter Gennett, others who have hit four home runs in a game:

• Josh Hamilton, Rangers, May 8, 2012 vs. Orioles
• Carlos Delgado, Blue Jays, Sept. 25, 2003 vs. Devil Rays
• Shawn Green, Dodgers, May 23, 2002 vs. Brewers
• Mike Cameron, Mariners, May 2, 2002 vs. White Sox
• Mark Whiten, Cardinals, Sept. 7, 1993 vs. Reds
• Bob Horner, Braves, July 6, 1986 vs. Expos
• Mike Schmidt, Phillies, April 17, 1976 vs. Cubs
• Willie Mays, Giants, April 30, 1961 vs. Braves
• Rocky Colavito, Indians, June 10, 1959 vs. Orioles
• Joe Adcock, Braves, July 31, 1954 vs. Dodgers
• Gil Hodges, Dodgers, Aug. 31, 1950 vs. Braves
• Pat Seerey, White Sox, July 18, 1948 vs. Athletics
• Chuck Klein, Phillies, July 10, 1936 vs. Pirates
• Lou Gehrig, Yankees, June 3, 1932 vs. Athletics
• Ed Delahanty, Phillies, July 13, 1896 vs. Colts
• Bobby Lowe, Beaneaters, May 30, 1894 vs. Reds

Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from article on CBSsports.com: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/reds-scooter-gennett-becomes-17th-player-to-hit-four-home-runs-in-one-game/ 

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