Tag: Fernando Tatis

MAY 3: 6-RBI INNING!

MAY 3, 1951 | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI– Six RBI (runs batted in) in a week is pretty good. Six in a day is a headline grabber. How about six RBI in an inning! New York Yankees rookie Gil McDougald exploded for a 6-RBI inning on this date in 1951.

McDougald hit a two-run Triple to kick off a 9th inning rally against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. He came around to bat again. This time he hit a grand slam. The Yankees ended up scoring 11 times that inning on their way to a 17-3 shellacking of the Browns.

The runs batted in (RBI) statistic is a valuable measure of a player’s offensive production, but is dependent on situations. You need to have runners on base or hit a lot of home runs to get RBI. It also depends where you are in the batting order and how productive the hitters ahead of you are.

Fernando Tatis holds the major league record for most RBI in an inning with 8. He hit two grand slams in one inning in 1999. Alex Rodriguez had 7 RBI in one inning in 2009.

Here are the RBI leaders in various other categories:

Season:
Hack Wilson, Cubs (1930) 191
Lou Gehrig, Yankees (1931) 184
Hank Greenberg, Tigers (1937) 183

Career:
Henry Aaron, Braves, Brewers 2,297
Babe Ruth, Yankees, Red Sox 2,213
Cap Anson, Cubs (White Stockings) 2,076
Lou Gehrig, Yankees 1,995
Stan Musial, Cardinals 1,951

Game:
Jim Bottomly, Cardinals, Sept 24, 1924 12
Mark Whiten, Cardinals, Sept 7, 1993 12
Tony Lazzeri, Yankees, May 24, 1936 11

On this date in 1951 Gil McDougald exploded for a 6-RBI inning.

Contributing Sources:
All-time RBI Leaders
Gill McDougald stats
Baseball-Almanac

APRIL 23 – 2 HR STORIES YOU COULDN’T MAKE UP

APRIL 23, 1952 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – The first one took place in New York on this date in 1952. A relief pitcher by the name of Hoyt Wilhelm – you probably heard of him, a knuckleballer who became one of the best relief pitchers in baseball history, he’s in the Hall of Fame – hit a home run in his first major league at-bat.

He never hit another one in his 21-year major league career. This was before the designated hitter. How does that happen?

There is a logical explanation. Wilhelm was a middle relief pitcher. He played in over 1,000 games, but seldom was seen with a bat in his hand. In 1968, for example, he appeared in 72 games for the White Sox. He had 3 at-bats the entire year. Struck out each time.

What Wilhelm was known for was pitching. He won 143 games as a starter, saved 227 games as a reliever, mostly with the Sox and New York Giants. He finished with a career ERA of 2.52. Seven different seasons he had ERAs under 2.00

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APRIL 23, 1999 | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Also on April 23rd, but in 1999, Fernando Tatis hit two grand slams – IN ONE INNING! Needless to say, a record.

It turned out to be a breakout year for Tatis. He hit 34 home runs and drove in 107. Tatis never came close to those numbers again, but there’s a good chance his two slams in one inning record will never be broken. What are the chances someone will hit three grand slams in one inning?

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
First at bat HRs
New York Times, New York, NY, April 24, 1952
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, April 24, 1999
Hoyt Wilhelm
Fernando Tatis